Fly or Fall (old)
by LoveLoveLovix
Summary: New fairies are popping up all over the Earth, and if there's one girl who knows how discovering your powers feels, it's Roxy. With some new friends, she sets off to find the brand new Earth fairies, she expects a vacation of sorts. However, that's thwarted with the appearance of new villains- the Apprentices of the Black Circle. Abandoned, please see rewrite.
1. Prologue: Roxy's Story

**Prologue: Roxy's Story**

So, after all the drama that happened in the summer I was sixteen, I was about to pack off and go to Alfea. On one hand, I knew that was the only way I would ever be able to become the girl... the fairy... I was truly meant to be. Maybe I would have stayed on Earth if I was still the princess of Tir Nan Og, but after Mom abdicated and gave the throne to Aunt Nebula, that kinda fell apart.

As I was ready to fly out to Magix with the Winx Club, my mother and another fairy- Lysis, if I remembered her name right- took me aside. "You could stay here," my mom said. She knew why I was going to Alfea, and approved of the reasons... but after fourteen years without her family, she was reluctant to let me go.

"Mom, I have to learn more about my powers. Bloom says all young fairies go to Alfea now. It's the best way for me to be the best fairy I can be."

"We could start a school here," she replied. "There's more than one college in the universe."

I gestured around at all the fairies. "All the fairies here have graduated. There's nobody but me who would attend a college on Earth. Mom, please. I have to do this. I have to!"

Lysis stepped up. She reminded me of Tecna, in personality at least. In appearance, she looked more like my mother, but younger. Long, dark hair fell onto her pale shoulders, which were mainly bare. She wore a white tank-top dress and white flip-flops, with a red sash around the dress. It gave off a very sterile appearance, for lack of a better word. Maybe I was biased... I knew Lysis was the fairy of science. "Roxy, that's what we're saying. Not all the fairies here on Earth are adults."

"Of course they are!" I said. "What happened to all this 'last fairy on Earth' business?"

"Everyone has potential to be a fairy," Lysis explained. "Now that the magic is back on Earth, many girls will be waking to their powers. Some will choose to study to become a fairy. Others will become witches. Plenty will just ignore their powers. And all of them will probably be scared out of their wits. Just like you were."

My mind was suddenly flooded with the thought of all the new fairies on Earth. People I went to school with. My online friends. Maybe even the awful Mitzi girl. It was a scary and thrilling idea. "How come I was able to keep my powers then? How come I wasn't all un-awakened like all the others?"

Lysis pursed her lips. "I don't know," she admitted. "But it could have something to do with who your mother was."

That did make some sense. "So... you want me to stay here so you can make an Earth fairy school?"

"Look at your Queen Mor... I mean, Miss Morgana for that one, Rox," the science fairy joked. "I'm proposing something different. Nebula's approved a team of us to locate, teach, and recruit girls who are discovering their powers. And we want you to help us. You're the closest to their age. The next closest is me, and I'm already twenty-four. That might be a bit too old for some girls."

"But I don't even know how to use my powers!" I objected. "I'd be more harm than good!"

Lysis frowned. "I don't believe that for an instant. Besides, Roxy, you're going to know more than any of the girls we pick up. And you've been through what they're going to go through. Please help us? Even if it's only for a year... then you can go to Alfea and study. And maybe you'll be going with some new friends."

From behind me, I could hear Bloom yelling my name, wondering if I was ready to go. I wasn't sure... and I didn't have much time to decide.

Since I didn't acknowledge that I had heard the older fairy, she came over to me. "Ready to head to Alfea, Roxy?" she asked kindly.

I turned to face her. "I... I don't know. I know I told Faragonda that I'd go, but Mom and Lysis and a bunch of other girls need me."

I explained the situation to her, and she nodded throughout, listening. Finally, she put her hand on my left breast, over my heart. "This is your most important lesson," she said. "A fairy always follows her heart. If you feel like you need to go to Alfea, then go. We all want you to. But if your heart is telling you to help these girls, to teach them to be fairies, then that's what you need to do. Faragonda, the Winx, and I will all understand."

I only paused for a minute before I smiled. "I'll be at Alfea next year. Tell Faragonda I'm sorry. But I have to do this."

My best friend nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "And Roxy... I'm so proud of you. Just know that."

She walked over to the other Winx girls, and smiled back at me before the six older fairies all took to the sky. They waved back at me, and I smiled... though I wondered if I had made the right choice or not.

As soon as they were out of sight, I turned to Lysis and my mom. "Okay," I said. "Where do we start?"

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note: <span>So, this is the prologue to a series of stories, each a one-shot about an Earth girl discovering she's a fairy. Think The Canterbury Tales mixed with LJ Smith's Night World series.

Anyway, as part of a relatively-old challenge I was given, I'm going to be accepting OCs. No profile to fill out, and no promise the OCs will be accepted... but feel free to submit. I'm trying to prove I can do a good, unique story with them.

Anyway, thanks for reading the prologue! Stay tuned for the first REAL story!


	2. A Shocking Discovery: Safeyah's Story

**A Shocking Discovery: Safeyah's Story**

Everything was different in Gardenia, California.

I was used to it though. Ever since my family left Cairo when I was ten, we've been moving around the world. My dad is a professor, and a scholar, after all. And not all the artifacts he wanted to study were in one place. As for my mom, well, she convinced him to settle until my brother and I were grown. She died when I was nine, though, so that fell through.

_At least we're not in LA,_ I decided. Gardenia, though large, was not big enough to be smoggy or gross. Neither, though, was it beachy or hot. It seemed to be just another nice, simple town. Rumor had it that it was anything but.

Supposedly, magic- some of the ancient Egyptian sort- had begun a rebirth here a few months ago. The world was in shock. First, six aliens came down and saved an ancient race of "fairies." Then, once they left, this ancient race announced that they were a separate government, and that any person identified as one of them was under a queen as well as their normal government, and all the drama started over again.

I pulled on a white Oxford-style shirt that showed off my dark skin, and then stepped into a pair of dark jeans. Ballet flats adorned my feet, and it took no effort anymore to put my long, black hair into it's trademark bun. Banishing all scary thoughts from my head, I smiled into my mirror. "Time to start at another school," I said, going for the cheerful tone I was known for. But even to myself, I sounded weary.

It wasn't a long walk to school, only a matter of minutes. I knew where Gardenia High School was because my dad had pointed it out to me as we drove past it yesterday, heading to our new apartment. I enjoyed the cool wind on my skin as I trekked. To me, it seemed like a perfect autumn day, maybe a good omen.

The first thing to do when I got into the school was go to the office. It took them about half an hour to warmly welcome me to Gardenia, California, the United States (the last place my family had stayed had been in England), and then to give me my schedule. It seemed straightforward enough- seven classes, each fifty minutes long, with a lunch break in between four and five. Mainly the basics, general courses, except for my science course- Meteorology. "We were all out of space in the other courses," the secretary explained sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind too much, dear."

"Of course not. It sounds fun." I gave her a smile. I had an uncanny ability to make friends with almost anyone. Maybe it was just because I tried really, really hard to be nice.

She returned the smile and directed me to my first class, English 11. _That_ wasn't going to be my best subject... you know, considering it wasn't my first language. At least I wouldn't be completely lost, as English is widely spoken in Egypt, when you aren't speaking Arabic, that is. And I had lived in the UK for a while too, so that helped.

In my English class, a lot of the students were already crowded around someone. _Is there another new kid? _I wondered.

Luckily, the teacher was not in the huddle, and came up to me. "Safeyah?" she asked.

"That's me."

She held out her hand and I shook it. "I'm Ms. Callifer," she said. "It's good to have you here. Welcome to the States."

"Thank you. It's nice to be here."

She turned to the group of kids and clapped her hands twice. Halfheartedly, the group looked up at her. "I know everyone's excited because Roxy is visiting, but I have some news that may live up to it in excitement. We've got a new student, Safeyah Hafeji. Safeyah was born in Egypt, but has lived in Russia, Greece, and England. This is only her third day in the United States, and her second in Gardenia. Don't ruin her opinion of us, okay, everyone?" Ms. Callifer laughed a little, before saying, "Anything you want to add, Safeyah?"

"Um, just that it's nice to be here. I can't wait to get to know you all."

"Does anyone have questions for her?"

A girl in the back lazily raised her hand. Ms. Callifer called on her. "So, you're, like, from Egypt? Can you speak English?"

_Didn't I just? _"Yes, but it's not my best language. I can communicate fairly well, however."

"Your accent is weird," she commented.

Ms. Callifer raised her eyebrows. "Susy," she said in a warning tone.

"I think it's cool. It's just also weird!" the girl- Susy- objected.

"It's perfectly fine," I said to the teacher, before replying to Susy, "My accent is mainly Egyptian, but I spent about two years in the UK, so I've picked up a bit of a British accent, I suppose."

A boy a few seats down from Susy spoke. "Why'd you move?"

"My father's work brought him to Gardenia. He's studying some ancient artifacts relating to the rebirth of magic."

The atmosphere in the room hardened a bit, as if I said something to offend them. Going over what I said, I realized that all sorts of people were coming and going in this town because of magic. They likely weren't so pleased about it.

One girl in the center of the huddle raised her hand up high, to be seen. She didn't wait for the teacher before saying, "Come sit next to me."

The crowd parted, and I found myself in the huddle, next to a girl about my age with straight pink hair. "I'm Roxy," she said. "I'm only visiting for the week, but I'd still like to get to know you. And even after I leave, my friend Lysis works at the artifact site, so we'll likely see each other around."

"I'm Safeyah," I said.

She smiled, but what caught me were her eyes. They changed from a blue-violet into a sparkling color, purple and amber mixing. "I heard," she replied. "It's a mouthful. Mind if I call you Saf?"

"No, not at all! It's what my friends in England called me. I like that name."

"My name is Roxy. It's nice to meet you, Saf."

Once Roxy introduced herself, so did many other people. It was hard to catch anybody's name, but I smiled and laughed and acted like I knew what I was doing. Hopefully, they wouldn't mind if I asked them again later.

Since Roxy was visiting and I was new, Susy was elected to show us around the school. Roxy didn't object, though once we left, she told me that she had gone to Gardenia High last year and knew her way around already. Because of this, and because I had a map, we didn't do much of a tour, just wandered around and talked.

When the conversation turned to our histories, Susy and I were talkative and cheerful, but the pink-haired girl stayed silent. Eventually, my other new friend called her on it, "So, what about you? I know you lived here last year, you and your dad, but we never really had classes or anything together."

"Well... I met my mom last summer, after she had been... away for a while. And I decided to be homeschooled for the rest of high school while I traveled with her and a couple friends. We haven't really gone anywhere interesting yet, so we decided to stop and see my dad for a week. Lysis said she thought we needed to." Her face was odd, like she was hiding something personal. Neither of us pried... well, not much, anyway.

"Lysis is traveling with you?" I asked. "I thought she worked at the artifact center?"

"She does. She has to move around for her job."

"Like my family."

"Yeah. So, we just go with her."

"It sounds like a lot of fun. We move a lot, but we never really _travel,_ like a holiday or always stay somewhere a bit before we pack up and leave again. Honestly, I'm worn a bit from that, but going somewhere knowing you weren't to stay? I think that would be better."

"I think actually living all those places, experiencing the culture firsthand, that would be fun."

Susy butted in, glumly stating, "At least you two have BEEN places. I've been here in Gardenia my whole life." She shot me a sidewards glance. "Although, with all the magic, all the culture seems to be coming to California."

Roxy gave her a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, you're only a junior. You'll get to go places in life."

"Yeah, I guess. Washington State, maybe." Susy smiled a bit, before questioning, "So, what's the craziest thing that has ever happened to you in another country?"

"I haven't been outside the US... yet," the pink haired visitor said.

The two girls turned to me. "It's a proper long story, which I don't particularly want to get into, but let me say that there is more than one definition of the term 'nosh," I said, cringing at the memory.

Susy looked confused, and Roxy looked simply amused. At the awkwardness of the whole situation, we laughed, and were still laughing as we turned a corner. I immediately slammed into someone. "Ouch!" I cried, and backed away.

When I looked up, I saw a boy about my age. But with his looks... and the recent emergence of magic in the world... I immediately decided his appearance was deceiving. He had blue hair pulled back into a ponytail. His skin was all too pale, and his features were sharp. "Roxy Klaus?" he asked.

Roxy froze. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Nyklus. An apprentice of the Black Circle. And I've come looking for you." He grinned suddenly, and it was horrible. "Now, tell your friends to run along. You don't want them to get hurt, do you?"

"He's right," Roxy said to us, but not looking at us. "Run, guys. I can handle this creep by myself."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Susy demanded. "Seriously, Roxy?"

Nyklus looked at her. "I'm afraid not, my dear girl," he said, and before anyone could react, a ball of magic shot from his hand, heading towards her. Susy screamed in pain and then began to run away, losing all hesitation.

"You go too, Safeyah," Roxy ordered.

"But..."

"Just go, before he hurts you too!"

I ran back around the corner, but didn't go any further. I couldn't see why Roxy got to stay. Maybe she would need help. Peeking out from behind the wall, careful not to let either of them see me, I watched things unfold.

"I took care of the real Black Circle members," Roxy said. "One of them hurt my dog. And now that you've hurt my friend, I'm ready to take care of you!" She smiled and yelled "Let's go Charmix!"

A bright flash of green light both blinded me and captivated me; I found myself unable to look away. Maybe thirty seconds later, the light faded, leaving Roxy standing there with large wings and a cute green and pink outfit. I froze in shock. _Roxy's a fairy!_

She shot a beam of pink light, similar to what the blue haired wizard used to injure Susy. It hit him, but barely seemed to affect him. He brushed it off. "Is that all you've got, fairy?" he asked.

"Not at all!" From her hands shot an icy shadow shaped like a wolf. It latched into him, claws digging all over his body.

When the magic faded, the injuries didn't. Nyklus pursed his bloody lips. "That just made me mad," he said, though his weak voice made it sound like the attack did more than that. He began to glow with a dark purple aura that made me feel horrible, even from my place behind the wall. His hand shot out and grabbed Roxy's arm, pulling her deeper in. "And now, ripping your wings off won't be nearly as pleasant."

_She's seriously in trouble! _I didn't know what to do. What could I do?

He took a delicate fairy wing in the hand he wasn't holding Roxy with and pulled, just a little bit. I heard a small ripping sound and gasped. Then I heard laughter, male laughter. "See, little fairy? That wasn't your whole wing. That was just a centimeter at the top. I'm going to do this nice and slow and very, very painfully."

I saw Roxy try to pull away, but he had her too tightly. _What do I do, what do I do?_

"Now, tell me where the fairy you're looking for is. Or else I can go even slower." He tugged on her wing, and Roxy groaned in pain, but I didn't hear a ripping sound. Had he torn it more?

"I won't tell you! Not if you pull my wings completely off. If my mom can stand it, then so can I!" the pink haired fairy declared, but her voice held much less resolve than her words.

He must have heard the difference too. He laughed. "Okay, I see how you want to do this." From his position behind Roxy, he silently pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Then, loud as he could, he ripped it. Though she wasn't hurt from that, Roxy grimaced, scared as much of the sound as the actual action. _This is torture!_

Roxy looked up, her eyes scanning, maybe looking for an escape. Suddenly, she saw me. Our eyes met. And silently, she mouthed something.

I frowned, confused. What was she trying to tell me.

She mouthed something again and stared pointedly. Was she telling me to run?

When she mouthed it again, I mimicked the way her mouth moved, regretting never learning to read lips. _Ih oooh. Ihh yuuuu... it's you?_

Wait, was she saying I was a fairy? I raised my eyebrows. "Really?" I mouthed silently.

She screamed as Nyklus pulled on her wing a bit more, then pushed her lips together and nodded excessively.

_I can help her. I can help her. I just need to transform!_

Suddenly, I was surrounded by light, the same sort that Roxy had been wrapped in when she turned into a fairy. Unlike last time, I could move, and did. White ribbons wrapped around my suddenly naked body and as they tightened around me, they turned into a loose white linen... that was oddly sparkly. Brown sandals slipped onto my bare feet, and gold bracelets onto my wrists. I felt a small pain in my back, a pain that turned to pleasure as my wings emerged. Though I could not see them, I knew instinctively that they were shaped like the wings of a winged scarab, completely in a translucent light blue. I heard thunder around me as the light faded, and I found myself standing in front of Roxy and Nyklus. "I am Safeyah Hafeji," I said to them. "And I'm pretty sure that I am the fairy of lightning."

Nyklus let go of Roxy, but his leg kicked her and set her sprawling to the ground. He looked down. "Thank you, fairy. You've served your purpose," he said meanly before shooting a ball of energy at me.

Instinctively, I moved, half-jumping... and then surprising myself when I felt my wings beating as I was lifted into the air. I channeled the surprise and shock, as well as all my anger for Nyklus. And as I decided to be done with it, lightning shot out of my hands and hit him, right in the head. He flew back and landed against a wall. He stood up, but his body rocked, as though he was dizzy. He took a step, and dropped again. "So," he said, a bit woozily, "you were angry enough to force yourself into a huge attack. For the first time. I'll remember that so I don't do it again. It's so much easier to deal with amateurs."

He waved a hand in front of him, and a black circle appeared. He stepped through it and disappeared.

I ran up to Roxy. "Are you okay?" I asked her, concerned.

"Peachy," she said, groaning. "How does my wing look?"

I looked. One was fine, but the other had a crack about two inches long, close to where her wing was attached to her back. That wing, the left one, looked limper than it should, as if it wouldn't be good for flying. "It's not horrible," I told her. "But he definitely left a mark."

She cursed. "I didn't know the Black Circle had apprentices. I should have figured. Earth used to be very magical; and fairies aren't the only beings out there. Come on, Saf. We need to go."

"But we have classes!" I protested.

"You're new, nobody will miss you for today... and I'm only a visitor. Besides, we need to go find Lysis. She needs to know about the remainder of the Black Circle, and anyways, she was looking for you."

"What?"

"Lysis is the fairy of science. She invented a fairy tracker, and two days ago, it led us back here, to Gardenia. Since I was here, I decided to visit the school... and I sensed your magic."

"If you can sense magic, why do you need a tracker?"

"Range issues. Sensing only works from a range of about a mile. Less if you're just a fairy in training, like I am. I haven't achieved my adult form yet." She looked sheepish.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Magic is reawakening here on Earth. For as long as I can remember, there have been no new fairies. We have a lot to catch up on." She smiled. "Besides, would you have wanted to go through this all by yourself?"

"Not one bit," I said. It was scary enough even with knowing Roxy was right there.

She grabbed my hand. "Let's go find Lysis. She'll brief you. And we'll teach you some things. Safeyah, I have a feeling you're going to be a great fairy!"

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Safeyah is the character of Akela Victoire. I hope I did okay with her, Akela!<p>

Anyway, you guys can see how this works now. Please keep on submitting original characters. I'm so excited to write them!

Next chapter is going to feature Musicalyak's character, Avalon! Stay tuned!


	3. Screw This: Avalon's Story

**Screw This: Avalon's Story**

"Do you know why you're here, Avalon?"

I folded my arms over my (very nearly nonexistent) chest. "Might have something to do with almost blowing up the chem lab. But I can assure you, that wasn't my fault."

Sister Adelina raised her eyebrows. "Thomas Masterson saw you fiddling with the equipment. Are you accusing him of lying?"

"Of course not!" I exclaimed as I shifted into a more comfortable position. Sister Adelina glared pointedly at me, and I realized that when I sat like that, you could see up my skirt. _This is why I hate this stupid uniform,_ I said as I went back to the fidgety way I had sat before. "Anyways," I continued, "I noticed that the Bunsen Burner was broken, a bit off kilter, so I figured I'd try to fix it. It wasn't until Sister Emily yelled at me to stop that it combusted. And that's only because she broke my concentration!"

"Emily says she saw sparks even before it exploded."

"That's natural," I said, much more calmly than I felt. "Sparks fly to warn you it's about to blow."

"And yet you didn't stop."

"I didn't see the sparks."

"You shouldn't have messed with the burner in the first place."

"It's not like I haven't fixed things around Saint Kinnia before. And lemme just remind you, I'm a lot cheaper than a repairman."

The final bell chimed, and I rose. "So, am I in trouble?" I asked.

Sister Adelina sighed. "There isn't enough evidence to expel you, or to suspend you. And will detention really do any good?"

"I've been in there enough times that I think you know."

"Just pray for forgiveness tonight, Avalon. And I want you in the office during free period for the next week, helping with _approved _repairs. I won't make you stay after school. I'll see you Monday."

I shrugged, trying to look sorry. I helped with repairs when they asked anyway. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I ran out of the office and the school.

Abigail and Lucy were still waiting for me, luckily. "So," the latter said. "How much trouble did you get into?"

"Very little. I have to pray and I can't use my free period for personal reasons for the next week."

"Not like you ever do anyway."

"My thoughts exactly."

Abbi, Lucy, and I were all ninth grade students at Saint Kinnia Catholic Academy. Only Abbi was Catholic... Luce and I had been sent here because the public schools in Byron, California tended to suck.

One thing all of us shared was our frustration. We were all frustrated for different reasons, but the school... lovingly nicknamed "Our High School Of Perpetual Misery..." was at the base. My main concern was the uniform (why_ can't_ a girl wear pants?) and the fact that though I was treated like a perfect little lady in the majority of ways, the moment something broke, I was the one they'd call on to lug out the toolbox and do some repairs. I didn't mind the fixing. I just felt like they were using me.

See, I had a gift for tools. Ever since my parents caught me with my older brother's toy hammer at age two, seeing that I had somehow managed to fix a loose bar on my crib, it had been apparent. I had never been professionally trained. I tended just to gather as much knowledge as I could by watching endless episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Trading Spaces. The rest tended to just _come to me. _As though I knew it already and only had to remember it.

Abigail, Lucy and I walked home, chattering about the day, mainly keeping the topics light. I split off at the end of Sullivan Road, my street, and ran the rest of the way home, eager to finally have some me time.

Of course I tripped. Of course. What else could have happened?

My skirt flew up, revealing my underwear. _I really, really despise this stupid, ugly uniform, _I thought as I shoved it back where it was supposed to be. Further inspection noted that my knees were skinned badly, bleeding a little bit. At least they didn't seem to have any gravel stuck in them. My hands hurt too, from trying to fall onto them, but they weren't worth much notice. They still stung, though. I cursed. _I'm an old hand at getting hurt. Funny how it never seems to hurt any less._

"Are you injured?"

I looked up. Standing there was a lovely girl, though not the sort of person you were likely to see in Byron. She had a beautiful medium skin tone, black hair tied into a bun, dark eyes that looked at me from behind a sleek pair of glasses. I couldn't place her exotic accent.

She was also the sort of girl that Sister Adelina would have loved- her white Oxford shirt was crisp, and her skirt was plain black, pleated, and fit perfectly at an inch above her knees. If you had lined us up, nobody would have guessed that _I _was the Catholic schoolgirl.

"I'm fine," I responded, getting up with a grimace. My knees protested weakly, but I ignored the pain.

She grabbed my hand and helped me up. "Do you need any help?"

"Nah. I got it."

She smiled and nodded. "Alright, if you're certain."

"More than. Thanks for offering, though."

"Safeyah. My name is Safeyah."

"Cool name," I said, unsure how to spell that, or even pronounce it, though she had said it twice. "I'm Avalon. You new around here?"

"A few friends of mine and I are visiting Byron. I don't know if that counts me as new, or no."

_Why would anyone want to visit Byron? _You have to understand that despite the stereotypes of culturally-diverse, accepting, loving, wild California, Byron just... wasn't. We were that oddball conservative, white bread town. If you wanted excitement, you went to San Francisco or Los Angeles or Gardenia. You didn't come to _Byron._

As if on cue, a car pulled up. A pink haired girl leaned out of the shotgun seat. "Saf!" she called. "Who's your friend?"

"Avalon," Safeyah said in her odd accent. "She lives around here."

"Cool," the pink haired girl replied. She waved at me. "I'm Roxy," she said. "Nice to meet you. Maybe we can meet up and you can show us around Byron?"

I shrugged. "Don't have much to do tomorrow, anyway."

"Great. We'll meet you here."

Safeyah opened the door and delicately jumped into the backseat, and the driver, a blonde, started driving away. _What did I just agree to? _I asked myself. _What will Abbi and Lucy say? _Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I walked the rest of the way down the road to my house.

Sullivan Road was the entrance to a typical housing develoupment, with all of the homes nearly exactly the same. Except for ours. The garage was sloppy and always open if I was home, and set up with a minifridge and an army cot. I rarely even went into the main house anymore, though my actual room was there. But until my big project was finished, I spent as much time in the garage as possible. My parents didn't mind- not because they were negligent or anything. They just knew me well enough to know I was determined, stubborn, independent, and a bit of a loner.

I laid a hand on the centerpiece of the garage- a large, broken, rusty blue car that I had dubbed Ole Denim. I had been repairing her since I was thirteen and my parents told me I could have her if I could fix her. My determination had been upped for the last couple months... I was determined to have her fixed by next week, when I turned sixteen and could legally take her out for a spin.

"Your knees."

I turned to see my older brother, Arthur... yes, we were Arthur and Avalon. Feel free to laugh. "Yeah, I tripped and fell. No biggie."

"Your skirt's ripped a little, too."

I looked down. _Damn. _"Remind me to fix that before Monday."

"Fix that before Monday. Now can't you stop working on that piece of crap car and come inside for a couple minutes? You can grab some pants like you like to wear and get some real food instead of that junk you keep in the garage. Besides, Mom and Dad and I haven't seen you since Tuesday."

"But my birthday is next Saturday, and I still have to get the lights working." My voice was a little whiny, but I didn't care. This was important.

Arthur's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wait, you're on the lights? Does that mean you got the engine running?"

"Back on Tuesday. That's why I came in and took a break. Quick reward."

He held out his hand for a high five, and I delivered, slapping his palm harder than most girls could. His smile turned automatically into a grimace. "Ouch, Av, that stung."

"Sorry," I said.

We walked into our perfect little subdivision home and he sat down on a bar stool in the kitchen while I pulled out some cheddar cheese from the fridge and crackers from the cabinet. I placed them on the small table that matched the stool and got a little of both on a napkin. Small explosions, random encounters, and car talk could make a girl crazy hungry. Speaking of... "Do you think Mom and Dad would mind if I went out with some friends tomorrow?"

"Nah. Lucy and the other one?" He looked more hopeful than he tried to sound. It was no secret to me that Arthur had a small crush on Luce. But you had to give him credit- he tried really, really hard not to make it obvious. He just didn't ever succeed.

I smiled. "No, a couple others."

"Do I know them?" And that was Arthurspeak for _Are they hot?_

"You don't know them, you might want to. I'm straight. I'm likely not the best one to give you a rating on bra sizes and that stuff."

He nodded. "Fine."

We finished our snack and talked about Ole Denim, then I went to the den and chatted with Mom and Dad, who looked happy to see me for once. I asked them about showing Safeyah and Roxy and the girl who's name I didn't happen to catch around Byron, and as usual they fully approved on the condition I stayed safe.

* * *

><p>The next day, I woke up and slipped on a pair of raggedy jeans and a football jersey. I threw on my tennis shoes and opened the garage door- yes, I slept in there again.<p>

We hadn't actually agreed on a time- something I had only just realized- so I took a NutriGrain bar out of a box on top of my minifridge and walked to the place where I had fallen.

They were already there, all three of them, lounging around on the car. Roxy was sitting on the hood, Safeyah was sitting with her ankles crossed in the open backseat, and the blonde was standing tall. She was obviously the oldest. "Hey," I said to her. "I'm Avalon."

"Lysis," she replied. "So, you're going to show us around town. Can you drive?"

"Not for a week. I only have my permit."

"I'm twenty-four and I have my license. It's legal if you want to."

On one hand, I had always been shy about driving other people's cars... especially considering I wasn't exactly licensed to. But on the other hand, I could see the olive branch of sorts that Lysis was offering. I didn't really know these people. If I was driving, it would be a lot harder for them to kidnap me or something. "Okay, sure, if you really are okay with that."

The blonde girl handed me the keys and I carefully slid into the driver's seat. She got into the passenger's side and Roxy and Safeyah climbed into the back. "Any idea where you guys want to start?" I asked.

"There's a nature park we saw around here," Roxy said. "Do you know it well?"

"Yeah... but that's an odd place to go. What about, like, the mall or something?"

"I want to see the nature park," she said firmly, so I shrugged and drove there.

We got out at the parking lot and started on the winding nature trail that was the park's main feature. "You don't really get a taste for Byron walking in the middle of nowhere," I warned.

"Get a good taste of the wildlife," Roxy said. Safeyah nodded solemnly.

I sighed, and we kept walking. In about half an hour, we were surrounded by woods and by a river, just us four on the path and a few animals that we heard, but did not see. "Let's stop for a minute," Roxy said. We had all been talking up to that point, utterly distracted from the brisk pace, so I was surprised. Maybe I was the only one without aching feet... I _was_ fairly active.

"So," Roxy said in a conversational tone when we were all sitting. "Do you believe in magic, Avalon?"

I shrugged. "I kind of have to, don't I? It's been confirmed on CNN and ABC and NBC and all those other big initials. Down south in Gardenia, right? The aliens with wings and all."

"Yes... but do you _believe_ in it?"

"I don't know! Ten years of Catholic school tends to strengthen your belief in miracles and reduce belief in fairies and elves and stuff. Maybe it's hypocritical... but I believe what I see."

Lysis and Roxy smiled at each other conspiratorally. The pink haired girl made a fist, then opened her hand to reveal a small orb of green light.

The breath went out of me. "Holy crap," I whispered.

Roxy's smile turned into a serious face. "You can do it too," she said.

I could feel my eyes widening. "You're not serious."

"Yes, she is." Lysis looked me dead in the eyes. "Avalon, we need you. Do you know the whole story of the Magical Renaissance?" The Magical Renaissance was the 'offical' name for last summer, when the aliens came down and fairies emerged from some obscure island.

"Um, alien fairies came, found enslaved race of fairies or something, beat up enslavers, enslaved fairies beat up alien fairies, eventually overcame differences, then the happily ever after."

"Basically. Well, the enslavers... the Wizards of the Black Circle... were taken care of. But they have apprentices. And those wizards will not stop until every fairy on Earth is trapped or dead. At first, we were gathering students. But now our need is even greater. We need a force to be reckoned with. And you, Avalon, are part of that force."

I looked at the three girls. They were all so different looking, and different acting. "You're all three fairies?" I confirmed disbelievingly.

Safeyah smiled. "It is hard to believe," she said in a weird accent. "But I am the fairy of lightning. Roxy is the fairy of animals. And Lysis is fairy of science."

"And what am I?"

Roxy shrugged. "It's hard to know. It normally manifests in whatever you're best at, unless it's nature related, like Saf's power. Do you have any major strengths?"

"I can run exactly three steps without tripping, I can make a killer peanut butter and applesauce sandwich, and I fix things."

"Oh joy," Roxy said darkly. "The power of peanut butter. That will definitely save the world." I was learning that Roxy was almost as sarcastic as I was.

"I bet you're the fairy of building, or something similar," the oldest girl said. "Is there anything you can build or fix that we can observe? It's the easiest way to tell."

"Well, there's Ole Denim, my car..." I said uneasily. I didn't know how well I liked this idea.

"It's perfect," she said, getting up. The rest of us followed, and soon we were all heading back to the parking lot, determined to figure out what the hell was going on... for them, that meant what my power was, for me, it meant if they were generally demented or if I really was a fairy.

A little part of my brain scoffed. _A fairy? Me? I'm not a fairy at all. I'm a tomboy. A Catholic schoolgirl. A mechanical genius. Clumsy and only fifteen years old. Who are they kidding? And do I believe them, really?_ I wasn't sure.

We could see the lot through the forest, the sunlight cutting through the thinning trees, when all of that light we were looking for suddenly disappeared. It wasn't pitch black- I could still see the three fairies, but it was hard. I had to squint. "Avalon, get behind me. You too, Safeyah," Lysis said.

"Lysis..." Safeyah protested.

I wasn't so fond of the idea myself. "No way! I don't know what's going on, but I can take care of myself! I'm a big girl."

"Neither of you are ready for this. Neither is Roxy, really, but at least she's had some battle experience." Before either of us could say something else, the older fairy added, "And not lucky shots or schoolyard fights. Get behind me now, both of you."

We obliged, and almost on cue, a shining light in the sudden darkness appeared. From it stepped a boy, with blue hair and nearly white skin. If he hadn't looked so menacing, he would have been cute. Even now, he was attractive in the way a wolf might be- pretty, but ready to eat you. I wouldn't have admitted it, but I was suddenly a bit happier that I was behind an experienced fairy. "Nyklus!" Roxy exclaimed.

The boy smiled, and his smile was evil. "Roxy. Is your wing still smarting?"

Roxy practically snarled. "Oh, this is on!" she said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. So, are you going to transform? Or did I ruin that for you?"

"In your dreams, scaryface!"

Suddenly, I was squinting. A green light and a pale blue light nearly blinded me for about half a minute. Somehow, they also transfixed me, almost hypnotic. When the light faded, Lysis and Roxy were standing there in full fairy form, transformed. Their clothes sparkled and glimmered, and large wings were on their backs. One of Roxy's was a little bit off kilter... slightly broken. _Did this guy do that?_ I wondered.

The two transformed fairies held hands and shot an energy beam at Nyklus, one that he dodged, levitating into the air slightly. Lysis shook her hand out of the pink haired girl's and, wings beating, rose from the ground herself, shooting energy at him as she went. Roxy tried to follow, but ended up collapsing to the ground, crying in pain.

My eyes followed Lysis. She was persistant, but her attacks were not very effective. Nyklus dodged easily, and in the few instances where the energy beams hit him, he barely seemed to notice.

I glanced at Safeyah. She looked panicked and conflicted, but then her eyes met mine. Maybe I looked as scared as I felt... but the light was around her, and thirty seconds or so later, she had transformed too, and was flying up to help Lysis.

I had gotten the impression that Safeyah was like me, a new fairy who they had scouted, and the battle only seemed to confirm that guess. Saf tried her best to help, but her energy beams were weaker and didn't shoot as far as the ones Lysis threw. _There's no way they can win this. Maybe if Roxy wasn't out of flight commission, but with just Lysis and Saf? This isn't going to work unless... unless I transform._

What was I thinking? Hadn't I just been doubting my own fairyhood? How the hell was I going to transform?

_Transform. Transform. Transform._ The word echoed in my head like a mantra. I focused on it, blocking out the battle around me, consumed by the word and all the desperation in contained. I closed my eyes for a second.

When I opened them, there was light all around me.

My hands were in fists at my sides. I brought them up, my arms crossing in front of my chest. My hands released the tension, and I smiled. I had no clue what my body was doing, but it felt pretty good. I whipped my short hair back and felt it lengthen slightly, and when I looked down, my shirt and jeans had been replaced with a sparkly silver one-piece jumpsuit that went to my knees and my elbows. Fingerless black gloves had materialized on my hands, and boots suitable for working in any sort of mechanical job protected my feet.

I felt a small sting on my back, then a feeling of joy. I had wings. Wings that looked like sheets of metal cut to look like normal, delicate fairy wings. Perfectly me. I wasn't sure if they'd get off the ground... but the costume department sure knew my personality. "Avalon, fairy of tools," I said, testing the idea out as the light faded. "I kind of like it."

I flew up to join Lysis and Safeyah. "Nice weather up here," I said conversationally.

Lysis glanced at me. "You should have stayed out of this, Avalon!" she said. "This is dangerous."

"Well, you _told _me to stay behind you, so well, here I am. Don't worry. I told you, I can take care of myself."

"Fine, then prove it," the older fairy snapped, so I channelled my energy and started throwing it against Nyklus.

It really wasn't doing much. In fact, he was laughing. As one of Saf's beams came hurdling towards him, he caught it in his hand and crushed it between two fingers. "They just don't make fairy magic like they used to," the wizard sighed in fake regret.

I could see the two other airborn fairies starting to lose hope. Looking down, Roxy wasn't doing much better. I pursed my lips and did what I did worse and least- thought. Strangely enough, I had an idea. "We need to get on the ground," I said.

"What?" Lysis and Safeyah said in unison.

"If all three of us can combine our powers with Roxy, we stand a fighting chance. Rox and Lysis almost had it at the very beginning... they just missed. With four fairies, we can do this."

Lysis's eyes widened. "That's right! Avalon! You're brilliant!"

"Nah, I'm just a grease monkey with a typewriter. Give me credit if it works."

We flew down to the ground and landed next to Roxy. "What are you doing?" the fairy with the broken wing asked, in the same tone someone might ask "How stupid are you?"

"We're saving all of our butts," I responded. "You can't fly, can you stand?" She nodded. "Okay. Get up. We all need to combine our powers."

"Convergence."

"Bless you. Hold hands with me."

She did, and Lysis took the other side. Safeyah held Roxy's hand. As if on an invisible countoff, we all channelled our energy into our hands. Somehow, I ended up with it. "Why me?" I asked. "I'm the noob!"

"You're also the one who had the idea!"

Lysis had a point.

I aimed, carefully. Luckily, Nyklus was flying down towards us, but slowly, cautiously... you could tell he had no clue what we were doing. I aimed the energy at him with my mind, and when I had a clear shot, I let it go.

It hit him, and I silently cheered, especially when the wizard flew back into the top of a tree, crashing through branches and finally hitting the ground with leaves stuck all through his hair. I laughed a little. It was a great sight, seeing a jerk like him looking like that.

He stood on wobbly legs. "I'll be back," he warned, before waving a hand and jumping through a dark portally-thing that had appeared out of nowhere.

"We'll be waiting to kick your butt once again!" I promised, thought I wasn't even sure if he could hear me.

Lysis looked at me. "You sure adjusted to being a fairy fast," she commented.

I smiled. "Hey, it's fighting. Someone should have told me that before. I would have been all in."

"Being a good fairy is a lot more than fighting. Unfortunately, that's the main bulk of what we have to do lately. With the emergence of these wizards, no fairy on Earth is safe."

I cracked my knuckles. "Sounds good to me. Let me at 'em."

"First, let's let you at that car. I'm still curious about it," Roxy said.

"You'll be bored out of your wits," I warned.

"Try me."

"Fine," I said, and Saf and Lysis laughed. Roxy and I joined in. _I think this won't be so bad,_ I decided, thinking of how my life was going to go from now on. But with that thought came the inevitable worry. "Oh my gosh! How am I going to explain this to my mom and dad?"

We all looked at each other and ran to the car, getting in and planning the best way _not_ to freak out my family.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Well that wasn't long or anything.<p>

Avalon belongs to Musicalyak. I hope I used her well! Next up is RainFlowers' Kristina. I'm so excited to write her, though I did have to tweak a few things in her character.

Be sure to review telling me how you like this! Thanks for twenty reviews already. Also, if you like this story, you might also enjoy my 2nd gen fic, Legacy of Light.

Thanks for reading!


	4. Shooting Stars: Kristina's Story

**Shooting Stars: Kristina's Story**

I wasn't born Kristina Ann Reeds. Maybe that's just not the girl I was meant to be. Maybe that's why my life never seemed to fit me.

I don't know who I was supposed to be, what sort of girl. My older brothers... well, just one older brother now... says I was supposed to be Roxanna Isleen Dara. Sometimes he calls me Roxanna, maybe just to remind me that the people I live with aren't my parents. I don't need that reminder. I have friends who were also adopted, and they're content, but I'm just... not. Or at least, I wasn't. Things have been changing fast lately.

I guess I should start from the beginning. As I mentioned, I was adopted. It was back when I was three. Twelve years ago. I've known that I was adopted forever, there's no dramatic "finding out" story for me. Even if I didn't know, I'm sure I would have figured it out. I'm petite, with a heart shaped face that makes me look younger and more innocent than I am. My hair is shoulder length, curly, and brown. I'm lightly tanned... naturally pale, but I'm the outdoorsy type. You don't get a lot of sun here in Washington state, but I make sure to soak up the little I can get.

My parents are different, my adoptive dad with Mediterranean skin and hair, darker than my brothers and me, my adoptive mother with red hair, pale skin, and a smattering of freckles. So we don't look much alike.

At first, I lived with my adoptive parents and my three brothers. But when I was eleven, my oldest brother disappeared. Nobody knew where he went. Except for me. I saw him go through a portal. Not like anyone would believe a gangly preteen girl. That was before all the fairy drama, the reemergence of magic that was still happening. Even now, it was still growing. The news coverage never seemed to stop. Now, it wasn't just that there were fairies- it was that teenage girls were turning into them. Parents were scared. Little girls were ecstatic. Plenty of people were just freaked out.

I won't lie... I'd dreamed of being a fairy. Can you imagine? Flying over buildings, up in the clouds, through rainbows. I guess I'm just a typical (probable) Pisces. Daydreaming is in my nature. I do it way too often.

Anyways, after my brother disappeared, I guess I withdrew a little- at least, that's what my parents said. I threw myself into my martial arts studies. I daydreamed twice as much. My grades, well, they really suffered. I got grounded at least a hundred times from the time Caleb disappeared to the day I turned fifteen.

Because on the day I turned fifteen, my life changed. That's when everything started to click.

* * *

><p>"Happy alleged birthday," Mom whispered as she gently shook me, trying to get me up.<p>

I groaned. "Tired."

"I know, birthday girl. Logan was too."

I pushed my body up so I was sitting upright in my bed. "Finally, something we agree on."

Mom laughed. It _was_ actually a pretty funny comment... though I was known for my wit, it was hard to say something like that when I was this groggy. But it was a true fact. Logan and I were fraternal twins, and despite the people who say twins share one mind... we just didn't. We were a brother and sister who never clicked.

Mom and Dad always pointed out that there was a chance we weren't actually twins, though we certainly looked like we were. Caleb and William, my other brother, hadn't remembered the birthdays of Logan or me, so we celebrated the day we got adopted instead, and guessed our age at three. We could have been two, or maybe four. Thinking of that, I got vaguely annoyed that I could have possibly been _driving _this year if my age had been guessed one year older. And I'd be closer to graduation too... closer to leaving Port Angeles for good.

I got up from my bed and yawned. "What's on the schedule for today?"

"Well, Dad and I have to work from seven until five. Then we'll come home around six, and go out to dinner."

"At _India Oven?_" I guessed. It was a family favorite.

"Yep! Sound good?"

No. I hated _India Oven_. Nothing against any Indians, but I am not a fan of your food. "Sounds good," I lied brightly.

"I'm surprised you agree. Logan picked it."

Of course. I should have known. Next time I got to choose a restaurant, I was picking _Bella Italia_, his least favorite, just to spite him.

Mom left the room, humming to herself, and I decided to get dressed and go outside, maybe do some hiking through the woods. Since it was my birthday and all, I decided to wear my favorite outfit- a black miniskirt, purple hoodie, purple socks and my favorite knee-high Converse. I threw my hair in a ponytail and was already out the door when I felt the chilly wind on my body. I quickly darted back in to grab my leather jacket- fake leather, of course. I hated real leather, since I hated harming animals.

The sky was cloudy- no big surprise. At least it wasn't raining. Guess that was the weather's birthday gift to me. Thinking about that, I walked through my backyard and into the woods that started in our property and ended who-knows-where.

I had hiked for maybe an hour when I heard the noise that rocked my world. I immediately knew it wasn't an animal. I probably should have ran back home, but regrettably, my natural curiosity took hold and I forged on. Soon, I found myself in a small clearing, barely big enough for five people standing side to side in a circle. Taking up most of the room was a really, really cute guy. Who happened to look really, really mean.

I didn't say anything. What do you say when you meet a blue haired guy standing in the middle of the woods wearing... was that a blue flannel shirt and jeans underneath _battle armor? _Whoa.

He looked at me. For a moment, we just stared into each others eyes. Finally, he said, "Who are you?"

"Kristina," I said, my voice small amidst all the trees.

"Kristina of what?"

My brow furrowed in confusion. "Um, Kristina of who-knows-where? I'm adopted."

Cutie's eyes widened, and he smiled. I didn't trust that smile. "You're perfect."

With two steps forward, he grabbed me by the arm."Let go of me!" I yelled, trying to shake him off, but it was no use. I continued to scream. "Let go! Get off!"

"Hear that?" I heard from someone behind me while I took a breath between screams.

"Yes. Do you think it could be..." This voice was accented, oddly accented.

"Well, who else could it be. Seriously, Saf." This voice was different than the two before it.

An annoyed, older sounding voice chimed in, marking at least four people. "Girls, stop bickering. We need to get to her. It may already be too late."

It was the third voice that said, "Alright, alright! Geez, Lysis..."

The cute dude's grip on my arm tightened as three fairies came flying into the small area (and one walked... what was up with that?).

I had never seen a fairy in person before. It was an incredible sight. They each looked beautiful and unique. One wore green, one silver, one pink, and one white. Their wings were translucent and lovely. I immediately wanted a pair for myself. As they landed and glared at the cute boy, I became slightly scared. "Who are you?" I asked, a little nervously.

The one in the silver one-piece glanced at me. "The president of the USA and his secret service agents." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously. Who do we look like to you?"

"Fairies. Duh. But what are your names?"

"She's being held by an evil wizard... and she wants to know our _names_?"

The one in a white toga-like dress-y thing frowned at the silver-clad girl. "Avalon, be nice. She's probably never seen a fairy before."

"Saf, Avalon has a point." This time, the girl in green with... wait, was her hair pink?... was the speaker. "We don't have time to waste!"

With that, they rushed towards me. I cried out and braced myself. But I only felt release on my arm, and heard a soft, male voice go "oof!" I looked around and found him on the ground, clutching his... um... well, guy parts.

Avalon smiled. "My dad taught me well," she said. There was a few beats of silence, and then she added, "What are you standing here for? Run back home! Are you stupid or something?"

"No! I'm not!" I glared at her. I could already tell I didn't like her very much.

The guy got up, still groaning. "You fairies never get any less annoying," he spat, before raising his hand and shooting a laser-like beam at the girl in green.

With a wave of her own palm, a shield went up, and the laser ricocheted back and hit a tree, burning a small hole into it. "Ouch," the girl commented. "A little lower and I would have been barbecued fairy."

The girl who I guessed to be the oldest, the one wearing pink, nodded, as if she decided something. "Safeyah, Avalon, you need to get this girl to safety. Roxy and I will take care of Nyklus."

"For good this time?" the Amazing Annoying Avalon asked excitedly.

"If we can."

"I wanted to be in on the whole final defeat thing, but if you guys really need me to babysit, I will." She sounded pained. "Come on, shrimpgirl. Let's head out before things get ugly."

"Shrimpgirl!" I screeched. Just because I was tiny?

Avalon took my left hand, and the girl I assumed to be Safeyah took my right. They gripped them carefully, then pushed up off the ground and began to fly, with me between them. "Whoa!" I said. Flying was much better than I had ever imagined, even with Avalon accidentally bumping me into trees. "Have you not been flying very long or something?" I questioned.

"No, actually I just enjoy watching you get hurt," she shot back quickly. "Now stop talking before you say something that really pisses me off or a bee flies in there."

I shut my mouth.

We dodged the trees for maybe five minutes until we were out of the woods and back in my yard. They set me down. "Ow," Safeyah said. "My arm does not feel too well."

"Talk about it," Avalon complained.

"At least you guys only had to carry me with one arm; both of my arms ache."

Avalon, who by now I _really_ didn't like, looked at me sharply. "You didn't have to do any work. Stop complaining."

There was a bright flash around the two fairies, and when the light faded, their wings were gone, as were their beautiful sparkly outfit. Avalon was in a ratty men's tee shirt and old blue jean shorts, while Safeyah contrasted in a dandelion yellow jumper that fit well over a white turtleneck. They weren't exactly dressed for Washington state in March, but they ignored the bitter cold. Not very well, though. I saw Avalon shiver. "Why don't you come inside?" I asked.

"This is your house?"

_Finally a chance to repay Avalon for her snark. _"No, I'm just inviting you into a random stranger's building because I'm weird like that."

I thought that would best her, but she immediately responded, "I'd believe it," and I scowled.

I held the door open for them and they walked inside. It was still early, only about eight-fifteen, so only Logan was up. He nodded to the group of us three as we went back to my bedroom. I could see Avalon staring after him as the door shut. "Your brother?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's Logan. We're twins. Fifteen years old today."

"Oh! Is today your birthday?" Saf asked.

"Mmmhmm."

"That's cool," Avalon said, and my jaw very nearly dropped. "I just turned sixteen... oh, about two weeks ago. So our birthdays are relatively close."

"I guess so! Even in age... I might be sixteen. Then again, I might be fourteen. I'm adopted, and there weren't proper papers, so we don't really know. We just know Logan and I were around toddler-age when the Reeds adopted us."

"Are you happy that you were adopted?" Safeyah asked me.

I bit my lip. "I guess. I wonder about my parents. My older brother William remembers them a little. I don't understand why they'd give all of us up. And I never fit in with my adoptive family. But I prefer this to, oh, being in the foster system or the Catholic orphanage a few cities down."

"Maybe they had to. Maybe they could not take care of you."

Shrugging, I sighed. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Alright. Well... I'm sure you have many questions."

"I have a question," Avalon cut in before I even said a word. "What's shrimpgirl's name? She hasn't told us yet."

Safeyah blushed. "Oh, I really should have asked that."

"My name is Kristina Ann Reeds."

"Nice to meet you, Kristina," said the darker-skinned girl. "I am Safeyah Hafeji. This is Avalon MacAdams."

"Have you always been fairies?" I blurted. That was a question I was dying to know, before the rude one interrupted me.

She laughed softly. "I don't know. The science behind it is very complex. I suppose we always had the _potential_ to be fairies, but no, we haven't been raised as them. I found out about my powers a month and a half ago, when I moved to Gardenia, California and met Roxy and Nyklus."

"Roxy?"

"She is the one with the pink hair and the broken wing."

Oh. Her wing was broken. That would explain why she was walking when the others flew. If I was any indication, it would be tiring to carry her around all the time. Though I didn't know the girl, I felt sorry for her. "Can it ever be fixed?"

"With time and rest, neither of which is particularly available to her." Safeyah grimaced. "Lysis- that is the blonde woman- does her best to help Roxy, but it is not a one-girl job. Avalon and I would help, but as I said, I am new; Avalon is even less experienced than I am. It is a lose-lose situation, I think?" She looked at Avalon for confirmation, and she received it. "Excuse me, English is not my first language. As I said, a lose-lose situation. If Roxy does not rest, she cannot heal. However, if Roxy rests... well then, what nearly happened today will happen quickly and oftener."

"Often, Saf. Or you could just be like normal Americans and say 'more,' got it?"

"I do not think that is correct?" Her statement lifted up at the end, inquisitive.

"Ain't it true, but nobody actually speaks right. It's the twenty-first century. We're rewriting English."

"What did happen today?" I was eager to get back on topic.

The more annoying of the two took over. "Well, that dude was Nyklus. He's got some big grudge against her for killing his four gay daddies." Safeyah glared. "Well," Avalon amended, "that's the basic idea. He wants to find new fairies too. For what, we don't know much. Roxy thinks he just wants to kill them or capture them, but Lysis doesn't think so."

"What does she think?"

"That he's somehow taking away their powers."

"Oh." What do you say to that? "Why was he after me, then?"

The fairies looked at each other. "I'm not so good at this speech," Safeyah said with a sheepish grin.

"What speech?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, the doorbell rang. All three of us jumped up and raced to the door, and I glanced out the peephole. "Is it that creep Nyklus?" Avalon asked.

"No, it's your two friends," I said as I opened the door and let them in.

With a better view of them, I could see that they were scratched and cut, nothing too bad, but still enough to smart. "Did you take care of him?" Avalon asked.

Roxy sighed. "No. He got away. But we did the important thing and protected... um... what's her name?"

"Kristina." Safeyah answered for me.

My eyes widened. "Important? Protect? Me?"

Lysis furrowed her brow. "Safeyah, Avalon, didn't you tell her?"

"No, but I think shrimpgirl's figured it out for herself." Avalon grinned.

"I'm a fairy, aren't I?" I jumped up in the air. "Oh my gosh, I'm a fairy! That is seriously the coolest thing ever! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

I danced around the living room, not caring how ridiculous I looked. I felt great. I was a fairy! I could do magic! Someday soon I would be able to transform and fly!"

Then I stopped. "Wait. Do I have to fight?"

The room went silent. After a few beats, Lysis said, "We'd like you to help us... but if you can't, we'll respect that. There are other paths for fairies to go down that are non-violent."

"I try really, really hard not to fight... and I know I don't always succeed... but I don't think I can help you with this."

"So what are you going to do?" Avalon asked. I got a slight feeling of anger from her. "Stay here?"

"No." The voice was Roxy's. "She can go to Gardenia and Tir Nan Og and train as a fairy with whatever path she wants. She deserves that chance. The travelling path isn't for everyone."

"Will it be an issue with your parents?" Lysis asked.

I thought. "No." That was a lie. I was running away from home. "Give me a moment to go pack some things. I can be out in half an hour."

As I raced to my room, I sighed. I was a little sad to leave. But I really had never fit in here. I always wanted out of Port Angeles. And this... this was my chance to fly. My chance to be a shooting star.

_You're the fairy of dreams, _I knew instinctively.

It really did fit.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Kristina belongs to RainFlowers. I changed some things, but I hope she's still okay!<p>

I feel bad that this chapter is a huge chunk dialogue, hope you'll forgive me!

Next up is LeLe; I have a great chapter planned for her! :)


	5. My Extraordinary Life: LeLe's Story

**My Extraordinary Life: LeLe's Story**

I slammed the door to the apartment I shared with two other people. "I'm home!" I called, but nobody responded. Anthony was likely getting ready for his basketball game; Maggie was probably working. I sighed and set down my backpack on our creaky, broken table. Ever since I had been kicked out of my home in Idaho and moved in with my boyfriend and his older sister in the capital of Pennsylvania, life had been tough. As I thought this, a roach scuttled across the counter in the kitchen, and I grimaced. I had stopped screaming, at least.

Careful to avoid the two or three small bugs who also shared our cramped living space (and who we could never seem to get rid of), I entered the small bedroom Maggie and I shared. Opening the door to the closet, I pondered what to wear. I didn't have that many clothes, so it wasn't that hard to pick out a pink tank top, jean shorts, leather boots, and my lucky silver charm bracelet. We needed luck on our side today. It was Anthony's big game. The one that would, more likely than not, decide if he would get a scholarship to Penn State, like I already had.

When I was dressed, I grabbed my purse and raced out the door, running to the nearest Capital Area Transit station. Luckily, it wasn't far (across the street, in front of the Rite-Aid), and I made the bus that would take me to Harrisburg High School. I probably could have walked if I hadn't had swim practice earlier- it wasn't far. But it took about an hour, and I didn't have that sort of time.

Even with the bus, the players were already doing their dramatic, yelling burst-in thing that they did. I slipped in quietly and found a seat, somewhere quiet, but with a full view of the action. I could see Anthony waving to the crowd- pretty much the entire school was there, plus some of the kids from Bishop McDevitt Catholic High School down the street- probably ready to see the opposing Creswell High School kick our butts. _They're in for a surprise! _I thought cheerfully. You could say a lot of things about me, but you could never say I wasn't a supportive girlfriend.

The game began, and as I suspected, we were winning almost immediately, keeping a steady eight or so points ahead of the opposition. My boyfriend was a big part of that, anyone could tell. He always had an ease to him on the court, a casual sort of focus that made his playing look effortless and fun. I didn't like basketball myself- I was a swimmer- but going to his games really was fun.

When the game was about half an hour in, I started to get hungry and went to get some pizza that one of the many clubs was selling. I wasn't so fond of pepperoni, which was all they had, but my empty stomach and I made due, pulling off the pieces of greasy meat one by one. It took about five minutes to do this and eat, and they didn't allow food in the gym. I hoped I wasn't missing anything important.

When I finished and was going down the hallway, ready to get back to the game, I saw that "something important" was an understatement.

"Anthony!" I yelled, running up to him. He was knocked out, lying on a stretcher. His legs were both bent in funny ways. "What happened?" I asked the first person I saw- a paramedic.

"From what I understand, someone fell on top of him."

"Is he going to be okay?" I was frantic.

The paramedic shrugged. "Hopefully, kid, but I can't promise anything. You his girlfriend?"

"His roommate." It wasn't a lie.

"Does this guy have any family?"

"Just me and Maggie, his older sister. Oh my god. This is horrible. Please, let me see him."

The paramedic moved aside, which I actually didn't expect. "Don't be too long- we need to get him to a hospital, but it's not the most urgent. If you want to talk to him, see if you can get him to wake up, that's fine. Just don't touch his legs."

I put my hand on his head, his hair, instead. _I can't stand this,_ I thought, almost in tears. _Can you please just be okay, Anthony? Why weren't you more careful? Be okay... for me? Please?_

The more I wished, the more I could feel the wish around me. It was calming, and made me feel much better. I couldn't do a thing for him- except for hope.

He groaned suddenly, and sat up. The paramedic pushed me out of the way. "Lay back down!" he barked. "You're injured."

Anthony frowned. "I feel fine." He swung his legs over the stretcher and got up, looking just like he could walk back onto the court. In fact, I was sure that was where he was going. I wasn't sure if I should stop him or not. Maybe all that injury had just been a bad dream?

The paramedic grabbed his arm. "Whether your roommate is a fairy or not, we still have to examine you, kid."

I paused. Anthony stopped dead in his tracks. "What did you just call my girlfriend?" he asked.

"She told me you were her roommate. So I called her your roommate."

"No, the other thing."

"Oh, saying she was a fairy," the paramedic realized. "Isn't she? I mean, she had the weird glow, and suddenly you were all hunky-dory. And she's about the right age and stuff too."

"A fairy," I repeated.

"Yeah. You know, wings and sparkly outfits and magic powers? They're all over the news."

"You aren't a fairy, Lee. Are you?" My boyfriend's voice was soft and inquisitive, and he used my pet name. This was serious.

I answered honestly. "I don't think so... but what just happened."

"Let's go home," he said.

"What about your game?"

He took my face in his hands carefully. "LeLe, this is infinitely more important. I'll get into Penn State some other way. I promise you."

We walked home, mainly in silence, both thinking about what had just happened. When we were only a few blocks away from our apartment, I looked up at him. "Anthony," I asked. "If I turn out to be a fairy, will you still love me? Will you be alright with me?"

He slipped his hand into mine. "Of course," he said simply, and I believed it.

When we entered the apartment, Maggie was in the living room, reading a book. "You two are home early," she commented.

"Something happened," Anthony said. "Please don't get upset, Mags."

She closed her novel. "That's pretty much telling me I'm going to get upset. What's going on?"

We sat and explained what happened. Maggie, an intelligent girl of 24 with dark hair that matched her brother, always had an intense look- but the one on her face as we communicated our story could kill. In a different way, she was as focused as her brother, though on the older sibling it looked much less relaxed. "A fairy?" she echoed us when we had finished. "You know, I knew a fairy when I was younger. We went to school together until fourth grade. I think her name was Lisa or something..."

"I thought all the fairies disappeared centuries ago."

"The Black Circle- the evil wizard-dudes- apparently been hunting them for a while. Most vanished around the Middle Ages, but a few held out in secret until about ten years ago. Like my friend. And then the whole Magical Renaissance happened..." When she wasn't working, Maggie went to PSH- Penn State Harrisburg- where she was one of the first to study Supernatural History. That was one of the few magic-related jobs that normal humans could have, along with studying artifacts, learning the magic theory, and working with fairy DNA to try to determine what marks the differences. Maggie was not science minded, as the other jobs required, though.

"And now, they're reemerging. It's all over the news," Anthony finished.

I looked at my hands. They were somewhat dark, part of my Mexican heritage. And possibly, they could channel magic. "What do I do? How do I know?"

"We need to go to Gardenia," Maggie said. "Or rather, you do. I have classes."

"So do we," Anthony said.

"Yeah, but you guys can take five unexcused absences per semester. You're old enough to pack up and do this on your own. LeLe is nearly nineteen, and Anthony, you'll be eighteen in a couple of weeks. I give you my permission. In fact, I insist."

"Where are we going to get the money?"

Maggie bit her lip. "I have some. I was saving it up to move to a better apartment... but this is more important. Besides, it won't take all of the money. Not even half."

"I can't," I told her. "You earned it."

"Think of it this way- I'm paying you off to be my living dissertation later. Okay, LeLe?"

I cracked a smile. "If you insist."

* * *

><p>In less than 24 hours, Anthony and I were on a plane, bound for Gardenia, California. We didn't know much about what to do. Were other teenage girls making their way to this city, desperate for answers? Or was I the only one? Maybe they wouldn't be interested in me... yes, we knew new fairies were awakening every day, but we didn't know what happened to them. Nervously, I ran a hand through my dark ponytail. "What if we came all this way for nothing?" I asked. "What if your injuries looked worse than they actually were? What if I'm a fraud, Anthony?"<p>

He kissed me gently, then pulled back. "No. I believe in you, Lee. Stop thinking this way."

I nodded, though his reassurances didn't do as much as they normally did. I couldn't shake the idea that the fairies in Gardenia were a bunch of snobs. "You, a fairy?" they would sneer. "Not a chance. Go home, silly human girl."

I tried my hardest to sleep on the plane, but I tossed and turned in Anthony's arms, unable to get my internal chatter to stop. My head was full of what-ifs and worries. Eventually, when I did drift off into a doze, it was brief and from pure exhaustion. I hadn't slept since the night before the game. And a lot had happened since then.

* * *

><p>"Please put your seats and trays in the upright position; we are preparing to land."<p>

Groggily, I followed the instructions coming from the intercom. "I'm not ready for this," I groaned to my boyfriend.

"Yes, you are. I've got your back, Lee. Don't worry so much."

We exited the plane, went through several security checks, and finally emerged outside of the airport in Gardenia. It was easy enough to hail a cab to take us to the hotel Maggie booked us- not without several evil glares and long, parental chats about responsibility, though. Sure, we had two rooms, but from the look on her face, she obviously thought we weren't going to use both of them. In her defense... we probably wouldn't.

We settled in and put our things down, then Anthony whipped out his cell phone, searching for the nearest restaurant. Room service was extremely expensive, and we were starving hungry.

When we finally found a small sandwich shop within walking distance, we headed there. On the way, we were mainly silent, thinking. But when we sat down (him with a Philly Cheesesteak and I with a meatball sub almost drowned in mozzarella cheese), we immediately became talkative, planning things. "How do we find out who to talk to?" I asked.

"I guess we just ask around."

I groaned. "Oh, they're going to think we're annoying tourists trying to get in on the magic thing. What do I say? 'Hi, I think I'm a fairy, where do I go to confirm this?' Ugh, they're going to hate me, Anthony."

"Not possible. Now, if it makes you feel better, I'll ask. In fact, I would prefer to. You're going to give yourself a heart attack."

Sandwich finished, he rose and went over to the nearest occupied table, where two girls around my age (maybe a little younger) sat. "Excuse me," he said. "I have a few questions about fairyhood and the recent emergence of magic. Do you know who I could talk to?"

They giggled- ugh, it took everything I had not to pull him back, I _knew_ they thought he was hot, and I _was _the jealous type. "Kristina... in the back... is a fairy," they confided. "She'll probably be taking a break in a few minutes. In the meantime, why don't you stay here and we'll try to help."

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said easily. "I'll wait with my girlfriend."

Their faces fell. One of them blushed. Anthony didn't seem to notice, though, sliding back into his seat across from me. "I thought they were brother and sister!" I heard one of the girls whisper, and I barely stifled a laugh. Our dark hair might look alike... but in skin tone? Face shape? Really, now.

"That was easy, see Lee?" Anthony said. "Didn't have to walk ten paces. Let's just wait a while here until this Kristina girl takes a break. Are you going to finish your sandwich?"

I looked down at my half eaten sub. I was really too nervous now to finish it. "Take it." I slid it towards him.

True to the girls' word, in a manner of minutes, a petite girl with curly brown hair emerged, wearing an apron that was much too big for her. _This is a fairy?_ I found myself asking as Anthony rose. "Are you Kristina?" he asked.

"Yep, that's me! I don't think I know you..."

"Anthony Cunningham. And this is my girlfriend, LeLe Castro."

I rose from my seat and walked over to them, pretty much on cue. "Hi," I said.

Kristina smiled. "I can't help you right now, I'm on break, but I'm sure someone else could assist you with whatever you need."

"Not so," I replied. "You see... umm... this is hard to explain, but..."

"We think that LeLe is a fairy, and we need to know who to talk to about this, what she needs to do."

Kristina looked at me oddly... like she was concentrating. After about a minute of this awkwardness, she smiled. "You're right. She's got magic." Turning to me, she said "Sorry if that freaked you out. I had to concentrate. I'm a new fairy too and so sensing isn't second nature to me."

"It's fine," I said, though my stomach was reeling. I had worried about not being a fairy, about being sent home. I had never bothered to worry that I would have been right all along. "Um, so now what?"

She pulled out a cell phone. "I'll text Nebula. The queen."

_She's going to text the queen of the fairies. _For some reason, this struck me as incredibly funny. Again, I hid a laugh.

A few seconds later, her cell phone rang. "Queen Nebula wants to see you," she said. "As soon as possible."

"Great," replied Anthony. "What's the address? I'll get her there."

Kristina took his cell phone and programmed an adress into his GPS, then handed it back. "This will lead you right to the Institute of Magic, where I go to school. There's a lot of people there, though not many students right now. But there will be scientists and tons of other fairies. One of them can direct you to Nebula. Just ask to see the queen."

* * *

><p>The Institute of Magic was huge. It was a tall building with tons of windows right outside of Gardenia. As promised, I could see many people inside.<p>

I gripped Anthony's hand tight as we walked in. A secretary sat at a desk, filing papers. When she heard the door close, she glanced up. "Hello, I'm Taria, welcome to eye-oh-em. May I help you?"

"I... I'm supposed to speak to Queen Nebula."

Taria smiled. "Alright. May I get your names?"

"LeLe Castro and Anthony Cunningham."

She frowned. "You aren't on the list... would you happen to be the new fairy that Miss Kristina called in?"

"Y...yes." I was very nervous.

She rose. "Right this way."

Taria led us to a security station, run by two women who looked about 35 years old. "Licia, Polly, these are LeLe Castro and Anthony Cunningham. Can you scan them and get them visitor's passes?"

One of them nodded. "Will they please step this way?"

We complied. They looked at both of us for a second. "One visiting fairy pass, pre-Charmix level, for the girl. And one ess-ay pass for the boy."

"Ess-ay?" Anthony looked confused.

"Specialist Aptitude. Though not highly magical- not wizard levels or anything- you have the base power needed to become a Specialist, a sort of psychic warrior. I'm sure the queen would like to talk to you about those opportunities when she's finished talking to LeLe."

My boyfriend looked vaguely shocked as Licia and Polly pinned on our visitor's badges. Taria smiled a thank-you at them, then continued to lead us through the big building. "We'll be talking to Queen Nebula first," she explained on the way. "Unless she orders otherwise, following this, you'll go through a few basic tests for power level and type. Then, we'll see what you're interested in doing."

We took an elevator up to the third floor and walked down a large, long hallway, full of shut doors. I imagined they led to crisp business offices. But when Taria opened one at the very end of the corridor, I found out I was wrong. "Please step in," the secretary insisted.

We complied, finding ourselves in an island-like place. I could see the sea from a window. "Whoa."

Taria smiled at me. "Welcome to Tir Nan Og."

I couldn't keep my eyes straight as she led us upwards again, this time using stairs. I was breathless when we finally reached the top- as much from the view in the huge window that took up one entire wall as the walk.

Taria opened one last door, and bowed as she walked in. "My queen," she said to someone I could not see from my view. "Announcing LeLe Castro, fairy, and Anthony Cunningham, potential Specialist."

"Thank you, Secretaria," said a stunning woman as she rounded the corner.

I knew from Maggie that Nebula, though new to the throne, was rather old, but I couldn't tell. She looked to be Maggie's age, maybe a little older. Her curly black hair was cut in a cute asymetrical style, the front longer than the back. Her eyes were determined, but not in a hard, cold way. The dress she wore was a chic mash-up of styles and colors. Large, sheer wings protruded from her back. "Hello," she said to me.

"Um... hi," I said.

"You're LeLe?"

"Yes..."

"Alright. Tell me your story." Queen Nebula folded her arms over her chest and I began, telling everything that seemed important- Anthony's injury, my wish, Maggie's job, Kristina's sense. She nodded and asked questions as I related my tale. Eventually, she nodded. "Please go to the testing chambers immediately. When you are finished, I will see you again."

I followed Taria again, into a room where I was poked, prodded, and given bunnies and crayons, told to do things with them. _Did they get me in the right testing chamber, cause I'm pretty sure that this one is for preschoolers..._ My thoughts trailed off as one fairy approached me. "Moderate level of power, 99% chance that it involves healing... or, as it is officially referred to, you most likely have the power of Life."

"Life. LeLe the Light Fairy. Like Glinda the Good Witch, only with less pink."

The testing fairy cocked her head. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"Never mind."

Back in the Queen's Room, Anthony was talking seriously with Nebula, sitting on a large couch. I could hear snippets of discussion.

"... any program at a known, Earth college?"

"No, Red Fountain is the only school to train for this career path."

"It's so far from home, and from LeLe."

"She can apply for a scholarship to the nearby Alfea if she so chooses- it's very likely she'll get one. No Earth fairy has attended in years, and they do try to help minorities. As for you, I can almost guarantee a full ride at Red Fountain University. You are the first Earth Specialist to emerge since fairies began to disappear."

I could see Anthony frown. "Why is that?"

"Specialist powers are very low-key, it's hard to detect them unless you are looking for them. Our security guards are trained to look for any power. If not, you would likely never have known about your abilities."

Nebula looked up and saw me. She motioned with one hand. "Come sit down, LeLe."

I complied. "I was told I'm a moderately powered Life fairy."

The queen froze, then relaxed. I wonder what had caused the slight hiccup, but it didn't take a word for me to find out. "I must ask you a favor."

"Um... okay?" I frowned, confused.

Nebula sighed. "My niece was attacked, and her wing hurt in the process. She's flightless. We need a healing fairy to fix it, or else it will likely take a year and a lot of bedrest- luxuries she can't afford right now. I understand you're new, but could you try? All our healers were killed when we were locked in this realm- a part of the Wizards of the Black Circle's plan to make us stay in pain as long as possible."

I was scared, and nervous. "I don't know."

"Please, try. I'll even make you a deal. If you try to fix Roxy... even if you can't succeed... and either or both of you can't get a full ride to Alfea or Red Fountain, I will pay for your entire education."

I didn't know whether to ask what Alfea was, where it was, all my college-information-needing stuff, or just say "whoa." A queen was offering to pay for my education. Just for trying to fix her niece. "I'll do it," I decided.

She led me down more staircases, back through the magical door into the glass building, then an elevator ride down to the first floor. Through several winding hallways. Finally, I found myself in a large, circular room, where three girls sat. They all looked normal, chattering away. Probably a little bit younger than I was. One, a girl with darker skin and black hair, looked up. "Queen Nebula," she said, sounding slightly surprised.

The pink haired and the girl with short blonde hair also looked. "Aunt Nebula," said the one who I guessed was Roxy.

"Oh, hey, Nebsy," the other one said.

Nebula raised one eyebrow at the nickname, then turned to her niece. "Roxy, this is LeLe. She is a new fairy, a fairy of Life."

Roxy frowned. "But we didn't bring her in..."

"She came here herself."

The girl gasped. "Wow. That's pretty incredible."

"Anyway, LeLe needs to look at your wing so she can try to fix it. Do you mind?"

"Believe me, I don't. I'll be happy to have my flight back."

A bright green light surrounded her for a matter of seconds, hypnotic and beautiful. When it faded, Roxy was dressed in green, with large wings on her back. One held on somewhat limply. I went behind her to examine it. "Small tear," I noticed. "But big enough to matter."

I placed my left hand on the wound, and Roxy winced. I tried to channel everything that I had... but I couldn't. I was working so hard, and after five minutes or so, something slid into my right hand. I looked up from the injury to see the dark skinned girl holding my hand tightly. "I'm Safeyah," she said. "Roxy is one of my best friends... and so I will help you help her."

With an experienced fairy helping, things flowed easier, if slowly. I watched as the wing reattached itself to Roxy's back. It took half an hour before it was done, but the beauty of the healing made it worth it.

When I pulled my hand off, Roxy beat her wings experimentally, then rose slowly into the air. "This... this is wonderful." From her place in the air, she looked down on me. "Thank you, LeLe."

"It's no problem, really," I replied, beaming back up at her.

She landed, and the light flashed again momentarily. This time, when it left she was back to her normal self.

Queen Nebula came up behind me put her hand on my shoulder. "LeLe is... if she would like to... going to attend Alfea at the start of next school year. If all goes well, Roxy will too. It depends on how everything goes."

Safeyah, Roxy, and the tomboyish blonde shot glances at each other. "The way it's going, no flippin' way will our mission be done by then," said the girl with the blonde hair.

"Avalon," Safeyah chided. "Stop being such a pessimist."

"Mission?" I questioned.

"We find lost fairies, unless, apparently, they find us first." The girl named Avalon smirked at me a little.

"Oh. Sounds fun."

Nebula and Anthony each took one of my hands. "Come, LeLe," the queen said. "We have a lot to talk about. We need to get you into Alfea, help you learn more about your powers, and as you're only spending seven days here, we must do this fast. There's a lot to do when you are a fairy."

I didn't doubt it. Somehow, though, I felt ready. I felt like this is how things were supposed to be.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Character by Invader Tyleana. So fun to write! I hope, as always, that I did alright.<p>

Wanna clear something up: All characters are accepted, but some may be changed. If I change something, I DO have a reason. Promise.

Next up is Amanda Gordon, submitted by the lovely author Chibi Horsewoman!

Also, read Akela Victoire's story Gems of Arcelia. It's brilliant. :)


	6. The Rain On My Parade: Amanda's Story

**The Rain On My Parade: Amanda's Story**

I hated this.

My hands gripped the steering wheel of my almost stylishly old car, Betsey. Driving through the mountains... to be blunt, it completely sucked. If we were meant to be this high up, we'd have wings.

Well, some people do now. But I don't. I'm quite happy about that, as I hate heights with a burning passion.

I'd been hating a lot since my family moved from Slave Lake, AB here to Kamloops (what kind of town name is that? It sounds like a sort of breakfast cereal), which is in British Columbia. It's a little larger than where I grew up, a lot less flat, and a lot less pleasant. Despite the fact that a forest fire burned down our house, and we couldn't go back, I asked why we had to stay here nearly every day. I hated my school, the mountains, the name of the town, the way the different sort of weather did funny things with my hair.

Speaking of...

I flipped my curly light brown hair out of my eyes. It flopped right back. When I tried it again, it did the same. Sighing, I checked the road to make sure I was staying straight, then bent down and looked for a brush I had thrown onto the passenger side floor the other day. After moving nearly everything and not finding it, I started to look under the seat.

And then the car lurched and sped up.

I straightened and took the wheel, only to see that my car was off the road and plummeting quickly down the side of the mountain, through plants. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god," I repeated, panicked. Despite my agnosticism, I offered up a thousand silent prayers to gods that may or may not be real.

As I tried in vain to break, to make my car stop, I could hear thunder crackling. Just what I needed. As the rain started, it got even harder to maneuver Betsey. I resigned myself to steering away from the trees as best as I could, which was hard as the car was pretty much beyond my control at this point. I was surprised it hadn't flipped over and begun to roll completely. At least I had my life... so far.

Looking at the oncoming dangers, one stood out... a steep drop. "Oh lord," I breathed. I had a sense that if I went over that drop, I wouldn't be surviving it.

I had kept relatively calm up until that point, but I began to cry. "Please! If there's anything, anybody, help me!" I screamed, pushing on the break with a force that slowed the car, but couldn't stop it. My tears kept flowing. I was going to die. It wasn't fair! I was only seventeen! And I wasn't even sick or a bad person or anything. See, this is why I hated mountains!

When the bright light surrounded me, I closed my eyes, ready for any release from this fear. But it didn't come with peace or love or any of the million things my mom says that it will come with. It came with more panic and a complete loss of control. My arms hugged my chest, my head moved slowly upwards, my feet kicked. I could feel something wrapping around me. Something sharp poked its way out of my back, but it felt happy more than it hurt. My eyes still closed, I could feel myself rising. Well, at least I was apparently going to heaven.

Or was I? My hand raised, and I could smell burning. But no... I was rising again. _Can whatever this is just decide already? _I thought, annoyed. I opened my eyes to glare at the heavens, but ended up looking down, only to see Betsey completely smashed on a small plateau that jetted off the mountain a bit.

_Um, what. Wasn't I in there?_ Except I wasn't. Hadn't I already established I was dead? Looking around, noticing I was hovering in thin air, that was really not that much of a surprise when I thought about that. I mean, I would have thought that the clothes of a ghost would be less sparkly... I was in a dark grey glittering minidress, for crying out loud... but hey, at least it was cute. And even though the whole flying thing was wigging me out a little, it wasn't my full on fear of heights. I mean, if I fell, what was I going to do anyway? Die again?

I laughed, only a little bit hysterically.

Even though I didn't think I could be killed again, I really was getting uncomfortable. Tentatively, I let myself float gently to the road where I had been driving. I worried for a moment that I would go through, but luckily my feet reacted just as they always had with solid surfaces. I breathed a sigh of relief.

_Now what? _

Well... in movies, the ghost always helps the family or the police find the body. _Damn, I wish I had my car,_ I thought as I began to walk on the side of the road. I could probably just float again, but the more I thought about that idea, the more I disliked it.

It took about an hour before I began to feel really tired and my feet began to ache. "Ugh," I groaned. "I thought the pain of your mortal body went away when you died..."

I sat down and sighed. It was a long walk home already, and it was even longer now that I knew I was going to get tired from it. Plus, I wasn't exactly in the best shape anyway... "chubby" was a kind way of describing it. If you wanted to be extremely generous, you could say I looked like Adele, except I really didn't.

I had rested for about fifteen minutes when a car came up. As it approached me, it got slower and slower. I didn't get my hopes up that they could see me until the car stopped right next to me and the window rolled down. "Need help?" asked a teenage girl with cropped blonde hair and a baseball cap. She was driving. In the passengers' seat, another girl sat, one with dark hair in a bun and a business-like style of dress.

My eyebrows raised. "You see me?" I asked.

The driver copied my movement. "Um, yes?" I noticed she had a slight accent, one that suggested she was from the United States.

I thought. I could be seen... I got tired... I was still on Earth, completely conscious. "I think I'm not dead," I said.

"I think you're not dead too. Need a ride?"

"Yes, please." I was relieved. The girl with the bun opened the back door and I slid in.

"So," said the driver. "How long have you known you were a fairy?"

I blinked. "What?" I asked.

"How long have you known you were a fairy?"

"I'm... I'm not."

"Really." The driver's tone was flat. "Cause you have a sparkly dress, open toe ankle booties, really awesome hair and... oh yeah... wings on your back."

"I WHAT?" I screeched, my head twisted and turned around my shoulder as I tried to get a good look. Sure enough, there were a pair of white translucent wings that looked as if they were made of clouds. "Oh my flipping god."

The dark skinned girl turned in her seat so she could face me. "What's your name? What has happened to you?" She had an accent too, but this one was harder to place.

"I'm Amanda. And I accidentally drove my car off the mountain... but somehow, before it crashed, I ended up floating in midair, and apparently, alive."

"I'm Safeyah, and this is Avalon." Safeyah smiled. "And yes... for some people, Charmix comes out instinctively when they are in need of it."

"Saf and I kinda forced it on ourselves, but we're oddballs," said Avalon.

"You two are fairies?"

"Yeah. We don't normally go around in Charmix like a lot of fairies do, though. It's easier to look human most of the time."

I looked down at my outfit. "So... I can go back?"

"Yeah, just concentrate."

I did. I gripped my hands tight. I closed my eyes. Inside my head, I chanted _go back to normal, go back to normal, go back to normal._

When my eyes opened, I looked just the same. "Um..." I pointed out.

"Try harder," Avalon suggested.

I narrowed my eyes, but obliged. When five more minutes hadn't produced any results, I pressed my lips together and tried even harder. But even that didn't work. "Agh!" I shrieked.

"What now?" Safeyah asked.

Avalon did a little puffy thing with her breath. "Um, we could take her back to the hotel and talk to Roxy and Lysis. They might know what to do."

"Hotel? Please tell me it's not one of those murder-movie motels. Because to be honest, I'm already kinda scared of being killed."

"It's just a Holiday Inn. No worries."

Truth be told, I was still worried. I had to get home to my mom and dad and pesky brother... I'd already been gone later than expected. And just because it was a Holiday Inn didn't mean they couldn't murder someone there. Especially if they were magical. One zap, and I'd be finished.

My hesitation must have shown on my face. "We could just take you home like that," Avalon said. "I'm sure you'll pop back to normal eventually."

"No!" I exclaimed. No way could I let my parents see me like this! They'd throw a fit!

Avalon smiled. "Then to the hotel it is."

She drove there carefully, perhaps freaked out by my trip over the mountain. Or maybe she was just a careful driver, though if her driving matched her personality, I doubted that. As she drove, we talked about what was going on... the reemergence of magic, how Safeyah and Avalon found out they were fairies, and their world-wide road trip where they were determined to locate other girls like them... girls like me. Girls with no clue what they could do until the situation demanded them to do it. It was a lot to take in.

We got to the hotel and Avalon handed me a hoodie. "Here, put this on over your wings. It's probably best not to draw attention to the fact that you're a fairy. I obliged, and we got out of the car and walked into the hotel. We headed up to the second floor, them in the lead and me following. Finally, Safeyah stopped in front of a door and pulled out a key, letting herself in.

I followed them in shyly. I was a generally outgoing person, but this was an outstanding circumstance. Looking around Avalon, I could see two girls chatting animatedly. One had blonde hair that fell shoulder length, and wire rimmed glasses. She looked older. The other had pink hair, which was her main distinguishing feature. "Hey, Lysis, Roxy," Avalon greeted. "Mission complete."

The blonde frowned. "We just got here."

"Yeah, and we ran into this girl on accident." She sidestepped, forcing me out in the open. "Her name's Amanda. She accidentally drove her car off a mountain, was facing certain death, and then suddenly transformed. Only one issue. She can't pop back to normal."

"Has she tried concentrating."

"No, that totally wasn't the first thing we thought of." Avalon rolled her eyes.

The girl with pink hair rose from the bed. "I'm Roxy," she introduced. "Let's see what we can do."

She slipped her hand into mine. "Maybe if we converge, we can get you back to a wingless form. Concentrate again, okay?"

I obliged, squeezing her hand and shutting my eyes very tight. I wished to go back to normal, so I could get on with my average life so I could get out of Kamloops and _not _in a straitjacket.

Nothing happened. This was getting rather predictable.

Roxy rubbed her hand. "It's weird," she said. "I can tell you've got magic, but it's like you're not using it... I know you're trying though... what's going on?"

She looked to Lysis, as if for answers, and the other fairy obliged. "I have a theory. What if Amanda is a fairy... but she hasn't awakened yet."

There was a beat. "She transformed," Avalon pointed out.

"You know, I'm right here, you can stop talking about me as if I'm not," I said, annoyed.

Lysis continued anyway. "She forced herself into transforming, to save her own life. You guys all did the same thing, effectively. Have you noticed that forcing yourself has consequences? Roxy, until recently, had trouble with even the easy spells. Safeyah's magic isn't as strong as most fairies' magic is, except for the first blast she ever shot. Avalon, you get tired when you fly long distances. It's not a natural thing, it's because you forced yourself into it. And it will stop eventually, don't worry."

"So you're saying that since Amanda hadn't awakened yet, she could have trouble switching back and forth between her forms?" Safeyah guessed.

"Precisely."

"So how do I fix this?" I demanded. :"I can't wait forever! I have school! I have parents!"

Lysis frowned. "We need to find a way to force you back."

"I prescribe a horror movie marathon!" Avalon cheered. "The first few times I watched _The Ring_ after discovering I had powers made me transform instinctively several times. If that doesn't scare you into human form, nothing will."

Lysis cracked a smile. "I don't know if that will do it, but it's worth a shot while we try to brainstorm other ideas."

Avalon popped the DVD in and we began to watch the movie. As the memorial scene began, a knock sounded from the door. Safeyah got up to open it. As she did, a man shoved the door open, knocking the dark-skinned fairy to the floor. "Hello, everyone," he said with a grin that made me more scared than the movie ever could. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Nyklus?" Safeyah groaned.

"Close, but no cigar. I don't believe we've met, but I assume you're Miss Safeyah Hafeji." He looked around. "And there is Avalon MacAdams, Lysis Ashman, and Roxy Klaus."

Then his eyes flitted to me. "And who is this? I'd guess she was Kristina Reeds... but Kristina was described to be so much... _skinnier._"

My eyes narrowed. "Okay, who the hell are you and are you calling me fat?"

"Of course not, dear fairy." But his eyes said otherwise, looking as though he was about to laugh. "And as for your first question... you may call me Killian."

"Are you working with Nyklus?" Roxy asked.

"We're... brothers, I suppose you could say."

Roxy sighed. "Well, at least I don't have to ask if anyone ordered room service and didn't bother to tell the rest of us," she said. Suddenly, four bright lights flared up, blindingly bright. I closed my eyes until the flares died down. When I opened them, all four of the fairies had transformed. "Let's go!" Roxy called.

"Let's go_ outside_," Lysis suggested. "If this room gets messed up, we have to pay for it."

Roxy opened a window and flew out, followed by the other three, trying to get the fight out of the building. They didn't look back, confident Killian would follow them. But he didn't. As soon as they were gone, he closed the window and looked at me. "What fools," he said. "You would think that they'd try to get you out first, if they're trying to protect you from me." He stepped forward slowly, as if not to startle me. _The Ring_ still played in the background.

"What's going on?" I whispered. "Who are you?"

"I told you, I'm Killian. One of the Apprentices of the Black Circle. But the more important question is... who are you? A new fairy. But perhaps something more. There's so much you could be, Miss..."

"Amanda."

"Miss Amanda. You could learn so much about your powers, be whoever you want to be. We can teach you. You can be the fifth apprentice of the Circle. It's not too late for you yet. Don't you want to be magical, charismatic, skinny..."

"Are you calling me fat again?" I snapped, and my hand snapped with me, shooting an energy beam at him.

He fell over onto the floor, but rose quickly. "You've already picked the side of those pathetic fairies, I see. Well, then I just have to change my tactics." Clapping his hands once, he seemed to shake the air. I flew backwards, not of my own will, but because of his power. I hit the wall and slumped down.

"Someday, we'll be stronger than all the fairies once again," Killian warned. "Our fathers got stronger from the magic of fairies. We don't yet... but we will. This is your last chance, Amanda. You can be the first Fairy of the Black Circle. Or you can suffer with your friends."

"Ugh, you're making me angry!" I shouted. I really was. I was so frustrated. As if it was a manifestation of my feelings, a tornado slowly appeared, spiraling toward Killian. As it hit him, knocking him against the wall, then the floor, then picking him up and throwing him against the ceiling, I felt myself relaxing. I looked down to see that somewhere after conjuring a tornado, I had slipped back into my normal form. "Bad timing, much?" I muttered sarcastically.

The tornado disappeared, and Killian gritted his teeth. "Beware, fairy of storms," he said to me. "There's another tornado coming. And this one... you can't control." He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Just then, the door burst open. "Amanda!" Avalon cried. "Are you okay?"

"More than. I'm back to normal and I drove that creepy guy off."

Avalon fist pumped. "Awesome!"

Lysis smiled. "So, now what?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want to do? Return to your normal life? Or come with us into the world of magic?"

I considered. "Can you call me in eight months, when I turn eighteen? I'd love to come, but no way my parents will let me."

The fairies all smiled. "Deal," Avalon said.

I wished I could go now. If Killian was right... being a fairy was going to be pretty dangerous from now on. I worried about myself... and about my new friends. Hopefully, things would be okay.

But my optimism was crushed when I realized I had to tell my parents about my car.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Amanda is Chibi Horsewoman's character! I hope I did okay!<p> 


	7. The Mechanics of Cheer: Kaylee's Story

**The Mechanics of Cheer: Kaylee's Story**

As the bell rang, I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and got ready to leave Arlington Heights High School for the weekend. But before I could escape (and escape was real important today), Ollie Beth and Sylvie each grabbed one of my arms. "You're going to cheerleading tryouts," Ollie said menacingly. "Whether you like it or not."

"I told y'all, I have to work today," I complained.

"Daddy will understand. Come on."

We started heading to the indoors gym, half because I walked, half because they dragged me. I'll admit it... I was a little curious as to what it'd be like to be a cheerleader. I loved the little dresses in gold and dark blue that they wore, the confidence they exhibited out on the field as they cheered on the astoundingly hot boys. I giggled a little. People tried to peg me as someone who wasn't too feminine (mainly due to my job...), but I could be girly with the best of them.

Ollie glanced approvingly at me. "See, I knew you'd want us to drag you here. Hon, your mouth needs to stop saying no when your body says yes."

"Ollie Beth, that sounds wrong," Sylvie quipped. "We're trying to rule the school, not get expelled from it, remember?"

Ollie put on a fake pout and tossed her curtain of perfectly straight blonde hair, in a way that was mock sultry. "They can't expel a girl for being comfortable with her _sexuality._" She put in a little bump of her hips for emphasis.

"If they could, they'd have to get rid of the entire cheer squad," I laughed.

Sylvie, who always was the serious one, didn't fall into giggle fits like Ollie and I did, instead choosing to sigh and walk off. We quickly scrambled to our feet and followed her into the locker room to change from our boring polo shirts into our gym clothes.

The gym was already hopping when we entered. I could see my cousin Charlotte, who was Cheer Captain this year, already organizing people into groups. Ollie, Sylvie, and I got in line.

When Charlotte got to us, she smiled at me. "Actually doing something girly, huh, Kaylee?"

I glanced pointedly down at my pink tracksuit that I wore for P.E.

She laughed. "Okay, I see your point. It's not your fault you have to be the son since Uncle Benji didn't have one."

I tried to laugh back. In reality, I was a little annoyed. It wasn't just that my dad didn't have any sons, it was also that I really loved to work in the automobile repair shop he owned. And I had a gift for it. He said so himself. "Well, look on the bright side, at least I can keep your car running, Char."

"True. But for now, let's concentrate on seeing if you can move than boyish body." She stared pointedly at the place my breasts would be if I actually had them, then moved on to the next girl.

"You do automobile repair stuff?" said the girl in front of me, who had turned to face my little group.

"Yeah..." I trailed off. I thought everyone knew. Weird this girl didn't.

She shot me a quirky little smile, made cute by strands of blonde hair falling into her eyes. It looked like it used to be a boy cut, but was growing out. "I'm new," she explained as if she could read my mind. "Avalon MacAdams. Freshman class."

"Kaylee Scott. Sophomore."

"Ollie Beth Maddox," Ollie butted in.

"And Sylvia Johnson. So, Avalon, where are you from?"

Avalon looked a little overwhelmed... like, for some reason, she hadn't been expecting to talk to my friends, but only me. "Um, Byron, California."

"Pretty far from Texas, huh?"

"Yeah," Avalon said, warming up. "It's a lot different. But I move around a lot, so I'm used to that."

"Really?" Sylvie actually looked somewhat interested. "Where else have you been?"

"Gardenia, California. Kamloops, BC, which is up in Canada. And now here."

"Cool." And with that, Sylvie turned back to us. Ollie Beth was still looking at Avalon out of the corner of her eye, probably judging whether or not she'd be a somewhat okay person to know... and whether or not she'd make the squad. As Charlotte's whistle blew, Ollie, Sylvie and I split up- we had all been placed in separate audition groups. Guess we'd know who was good and who sucked soon enough.

"Group One, up first!" yelled one of the old cheerleaders. Sylvia's group stepped up and were led through an elaborate routine. Sylvie, with her ponytailed dark hair and long body, already looked the part of a cheerleader, though even from a distance I was mentally correcting her frown of concentration. _Smile, girly!_ I willed.

When they were done, they were led into a different room, and my group- Two- was called. I could see Avalon on the other side of the pack, her legs parallel with her shoulders, her arms tucked in. _She either knows something I don't, or she's just plain ridiculous._

"Okay!" Charlotte yelled. "Y'all should be stretched and ready to go. If you're not, get out and try again next year. This is serious. We aren't gonna have any injuries today, okay? This isn't _Buffy the Vampire Slayer._" She got some giggles with that. "Now, in my eyes, there's five basic things we're lookin' for today. One, can you dance? Two, can you cheer? Three, can you smile? Four, can you get along with the team? And five, can you deal with us bitches for an entire season... which is actually completely unrelated to number four."

"Language, Miss Charlotte," the teacher adviser said lazily.

She shrugged it off and continued. "If you can do all five, welcome to the team. And that's not even a "we'll consider you." There aren't enough people who can do all five to fill spots, so some of you can slide. With that, let's start dancing."

The routine was intense. My body was fairly healthy from running back and forth to get things for Dad, as well as from lifting heavy equipment, but the dancing exhausted me. I pressed on though, partially because I could see Avalon working through it, and partially because I _really wanted one of those little dresses._

When we finished, we were all herded into the hallway. "Okay, here's the cut list," Charlotte said. "If you aren't on it, get out and go get some french fries and cry your eyes out. Alphabetically. Clairbourne, Davis, MacAdams, Rivers, Scott, Treverston. If your name wasn't called, bye bye and have a nice year."

When five girls from our group slinked out, my cousin clapped her hands and smiled... somewhat evilly. "Now that you guys have passed round one, I'm ready to hear the individual cheers you've composed."

_Um. What._

One poor girl... I think she was Zoe Davis, a freshman... spoke up tentatively. "It didn't say anything about composing a cheer, did it?"

"No, it didn't." Yep, that was Char's evil grin. "But being impulsive and having good reflexes are important qualities for the Arlington Heights Cheer Squad. Good lord, girl, this is Texas. We have to be awesome." And then the Cheer captain flipped her hair and walked back into the gym.

"Do you realize that none of group one came back?" Zoe asked in a stage whisper.

Another freshman... Allyson Clairbourne... gasped, putting one hand to her open mouth. "What do you think happened to them?"

"For crying out loud, this is a high school cheerleading squad, not a horror movie. And I've seen enough of both to know."

It sounded like something I would say, or maybe Ollie, but when I looked, it was Avalon who had made the comment. "Now," she continued, "if you'll excuse me, I have a cheer to write. We don't know when the Head Bitch In Cheer is gonna be back, and some of us actually want to make the team."

I jumped in. "And if certain freshies can't take the heat, maybe they shouldn't come near the fire."

Zoe and Allyson's eyes went downwards, embarrassed. And then there was silence as each of us tried to come up with something individual, something that would stand out. After about five minutes, we started to be called in, one by one. I was second to last, but finally, one of Charlotte's friends asked for "Scott."

My cousin wasn't in this round, but I knew a couple of the judges. "Nervous?" asked Emily Blackman, a senior.

"Well... let's just say I spent five minutes trying to rhyme something to "jackets of yellow" before I gave in and changed it."

They laughed. "Show us what you've got."

Alternating between claps and stomps to the offbeat (I read that simple choreography makes you stand out from the other candidates), I called out, "One, two, three, four! Yellow Jackets gotta score! Five, six, seven, eight! Opposing-team's-name-slash-mascot-here, don't you hate!" For a little added emphasis, I clapped quickly four times and fist-pumped twice.

No sign of how I did showed on the girls' faces. "Okay, good job, Kaylee. Scores are up tomorrow. You can exit out the same door you came in. Call for Treverston, please."

I obliged, and sighed, almost running into Avalon. "Sorry," I apologized.

"Don't be." Her voice was grumpy.

"What's wrong?" I asked, truly curious. "Did you not do well?"

"I didn't get a chance to. They yelled at me. Apparently, I ruined the audition. There was supposed to be total chaos and worry. That stage wasn't about cheer skills... it was about keeping calm under stress. And I blew it. I'm gone."

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'll probably be moving again soon anyway. I just tried out because I thought it might be fun. I don't always get to do a lot of girly things."

I smiled. "Same. Just because I fix cars part-time, everyone pegs me as this butch girl. Which is kinda funny, because even my jack is pink and purple. I'm about as girly as they come, I just like to fix stuff."

"Me too... except for the girly part." She tugged on her short hair to emphasize. "I even totally fixed up an old car that didn't run anymore. I named her Ole Denim. Wanna see?"

"Completely!" I exclaimed. "I'm fixing up a junker myself. Haven't got a name yet."

We passed Ollie Beth coming in as we left, and I motioned a thumbs-up to her for luck. She smiled tentatively back at me.

Out in the parking lot, Avalon led me to see her car. It was an unexpected beauty, with a fairly-new coat of shiny blue paint, though you could immediately see that the model was old. "It's awesome," I said.

"Wanna ride in her? She's sleeker than she looks. A few twists and turns I put in here and there."

Well, I needed a ride home anyway. I normally caught the bus, but I had missed it. I would have mooched a ride from Ollie, but she'd be a while, and there was this offer... "That'd be great! But... um, would you mind taking me home? I need a ride."

"No issue, just tell me how to get there."

I hopped into the passenger's seat, and Avalon into the driver's side. The car started silently, not betraying it's age at all. "Beautiful," I whispered.

She smirked, prideful. "You could say I have a magic touch."

"I get that. People tell me the same thing."

Her sideways glance was hard to interpret. It was half amused and half... knowing. Like she had already figured me out. It was rather disorienting. To distract myself from that, I asked "Does the radio work?"

"Yeah. Wanna turn it on? I don't know the stations yet."

"No problem."

But as I touched the dial, sparks flew, like the thing was blowing up. "What'd I do? What'd I do?" I asked frantically.

Avalon pursed her lips. "No clue. We can check it out when we get to your house... if that's alright."

I nodded assent.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. When we finally got to my house, right next to the Scott Repair Garage, where I worked, I hopped out and started running to the business. "I'll go get my tools and be right back," I called over my shoulder. Avalon nodded, but looked a little distracted.

I slipped into the shop, and immediately, Dad was on me. "Hey, where were you? You're late."

"Ollie Beth and Sylvie forced me to come try out for the cheerleading squad. I tried to escape, but even if I did, I already missed the bus home. Luckily for me, a new friend drove me home. As payment, I accidentally broke her radio. I'm going to try to fix it, then I'll be in and working."

"If I don't fire you first," he threatened playfully.

I smiled back. "And you can get your son to come and work for you. Oh, that's right... I'm your only child."

He stuck his tongue out at me, childish. I grinned, grabbed my lilac tool box, and headed back to Avalon's car.

The new girl was already working, her calloused fingers gently probing the box of a radio. "I've got tools," I said awkwardly... she looked like she was in the zone, and I didn't want to mess it up.

She took my hand quickly and placed it on the radio. "You feel that?" she asked.

"What, that humming-y thing? Like, a vibration. Does that means it's working?"

"Yes!" Avalon exclaimed. When I looked at her funny, she frowned sheepishly and said, "I mean no. But with a little help from you..."

"I thought you fixed things too."

"Well, I'm best with smaller things. And I'm not professionally trained. Taught myself. Don't want to fry my own radio because of a lack of education. Besides, you broke it."

True. I "heh-hehed," and then grabbed my tool box.

Avalon snatched it out of my hand. "No, don't use those."

"Don't use... but how else would I fix it?"

She stared at me for a long moment. I stared back. Eventually, she blinked and sighed. "Yeah, I suck at this."

"Staring contests?"

"No, telling new fairies that they're... um... new fairies."

There were several beats of silence. "Um, excuse me?" I choked out.

She leaned back in the driver's seat. "Here's the deal. Me and my friends Safeyah, Roxy, and Lysis are on a mission to find fairies who are newly awakening. If you count Saf and me, who were found before we joined the team- well, that's kind of a duh- we've found five. Anyway, we find these girls, we tell them who they are, and we offer them the chance to do something about their powers. Like travel to find other new fairies, or go to school somewhere."

"Lysis and Safeyah split up from Roxy and I about a week ago. We felt a fairy around Forth Worth, so Rox and I enrolled in different high schools, and I just found you. Fairy number six, Kaylee Scott, power of repairs. Now, will you fix my radio, because your powers awakened enough to break it."

Let me explain something to you, the reader. I'm fairly well known and well liked at Arlington Heights High School. In fact, I'm popular, like everyone tries to be, but not a lot of people are. People think that makes me a snob, and I try to prove them wrong. But some occasions just call for bitch-isms. "You're crazy," I said flatly. "I'm not a fairy freak."

Avalon looked a little hurt. "It's really cool, actually. Jeez, and I thought you were nice."

"I normally am," I said, my voice raising a bit in volume and hysteria as I spoke, "but not when some new student tells me she's a spy doing secret magical espionage only to discover I've actually got wings and powers and stuff! No way! I'm not a fairy, I'm just Kaylee!"

"Are we playing the _Harry Potter_ game? Because here's my cue to ask if you've ever done something unexplained."

I glared. But she didn't let up. "Well, have you?"

I pursed my lips... then nodded. "I... I know what's wrong with things before I look at them. I can fix things by touching them sometimes. I can see problems before they even happen. I saved my mother's life with that once. But she was so freaked out, we don't talk about that anymore."

"You... your family... you aren't very open to the idea of fairies, are you?"

I looked down. "It's not that. It's my powers. It's scary to have abilities you can't explain."

She took my hand and squeezed it. "Well... now we can explain them to you."

"I need to tell my dad," I said. My mom would freak, but my dad needed to know.

We slowly walked up to the shop. He was smoking, not with a customer, so we explained the whole situation to him. When I finished with, "I'm a fairy, Dad," he smiled.

"I thought so. I guessed," he said.

My mouth dropped. "You did?"

"What else could it be?" He snuffed out his cigarette and hugged me. "Now... we just need to figure out what to do about it."

"There's a school for fairies in California. Also one in another dimension, but you might want her close. Or..."

"Or what?" I wondered.

"You could travel with my friends and me. It'd be exciting and fun. Besides, we need someone nice who actually speaks English as a first language. Saf is so friendly, but occasionally needs some English help. And Lysis, Roxy, me... well, we all can be jerks at times."

I looked at my dad. "I don't want to leave, Daddy," I whispered.

He hugged me again. "Honey... I think it's your destiny. You need to do this. You're growing up."

"What about Mom?"

"I'll explain." He looked at Avalon. "Take care of her, okay? She's gonna have to come back and be the best fairy mechanic there is."

She saluted. "Gotcha, sir."

And as my dad smiled, Avalon put her arm around me. "Welcome to the team, Kaylee. I have a feeling we're going to be great friends."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Kaylee is by rogue-scholar07.<p>

Yes, this chapter was a bit boring. Since both characters are going to be seen a lot more, it was character develoupment, mostly. You'll get to see a lot more plot later, swearsies. In fact, our next chapter (featuring Rider Bradley by Silverwolforever) is action-packed and awesome. Though possibly, quite short.

Also, anyone who follows my work obsessively knows I have a tradition of doing a bonus chapter every 50 reviews I get, so yeah that might be before we get to Rider. I'm considering two things: a crossover with my story Legacy of Light (where AU!Story discovers her powers), or, in a Mary-Sue defying stunt, a self insertation parody. Tell me what you think in your reviews!


	8. BONUS CHAPTER

**Performance Anxiety: Tabby's Story**

**(otherwise entitled, "If The Author Turned Out To Be A Fairy)**

The moment I woke up, I knew my day was going to end the same way it began- flopped on my bed, utterly exhausted. My brain ran through all the reasons I should get up, namely that I was an announcer and a performer in a choir concert that night, the fact that I was dangerously close to failing Math II (hey, I'm dyscalculaic. Math is like Greek to me. Worse, actually... at least I _know_ a little Greek), and the minor detail that I had to talk to my best friend Maydy about a character she was planning to submit for one of my fanfics.

_See? _I told myself. _It's a big day ahead of you. _I wasn't convinced.

By the time I managed to get myself out of bed, my clock said 6:30... eight minutes before I had to make the half mile walk to my bus stop, which would come at 6:45, but my clock was eight minutes fast... don't ask why eight, honestly, I am not quite sure myself. I threw on a pair of black slacks from my uniform last year (they abolished the idea of school uniforms at the beginning of this August, which was nice) and a rainbow striped sweater. Slipping on my comfy pink ballet flats and grabbing my bag, I left my apartment, one of my six siblings (the fifteen year old brother-y one) walking behind me.

The walk and the bus ride were mainly uneventful. Getting to school, however...

Well, it was odd, as always.

Let me explain. My school is not an arts school per se... but, it's artsy, in the interactive and nontraditional sense. And odd. I joked that there is always a story to tell at the end of the day. Examples? In my history class, we once reenacted trench warfare by throwing paper balls at each other. Another day, we entered the school only to find a bunch of people handing out free donuts. A science teacher lets her pet rabbit Sugarbaby hop around the lab, in my junior-year-take-one there was a flash mob of sorts where fifty kids sang the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and today, for no apparent reason, the administration decided to bring in sushi for us at lunch.

_Another reason to get up,_ I noted.

When I got to my seat in the gym (one of the few pre-class gathering places), my friends were already engaged in discussion.

"Is it fun?" Beautiful (yes, that's really her name) asked.

Kimbreyana snorted. "Does it hurt?"

Amado just smiled.

I frowned. "What are y'all talking about?"

"Gay sex. Amado had it." Kim sighed.

Amado's smirk was bigger now. "Wow," I said. "So, you're officially unavailable to the ladies now?"

"I always have been," he said.

"Not what I thought when I saw you with Mamie," I joked. But I knew better. Though Amado was fairly openly gay... well, very openly... he _did_ shout "I'm queer!" last Valentine's Day while walking down the hallways, a very brave move for the deep south... that was commonly forgotten, especially as he and his best friend Mamie had this flirty banter going on.

We laughed, and I looked around the gym. There were distinct cliques, but not the typical ones, ie jocks, nerds, junkies. We had the unique geeks (my group, distinguished from the normal geeks since we were socially acceptable to hang with), the geeky geeks, the kids who hunted/rednecks, the ones who really didn't care, the ghetto kids, and the Orch Dorks/Band Geeks/Choir Nerds who weren't in another group already.

When the bell rang, we all jumped up. "Catch you later," I said to Beautiful, Kim, and Amado as I headed to my first period BritLit. Maydy (full name, Amanda Lynn) was already there, reading. As always, I tried to sneak up on her, and as always, she caught me. "Nice try," she said in her cute Southern twang.

I smiled and got out Macbeth, which we were currently studying. "I'm not at the top of my game," I excused. "I'm tired and there's a concert tonight."

"Ah," she said.

From across the room, a girl complained about not being able to read because reading made her sleepy. I looked at Maydy incredulously. "That's crazy. No book has ever put me to sleep except for The Old Man And The Sea and The Catcher In The Rye." I tapped a library copy of the second, to add emphasis.

"You're trying to read it again?"

"It's Zoë's favorite. I figure I need to get through it at least once. But there's too many swears, and I can't relate to Holden at all... he's too much of a guy."

"You're such a girl."

"My point exactly."

"Speaking of... got your character!*"

"Oooh, awesome. You named her Lynn... and she's Irish... and she... she's a total self-insertation isn't she."

Maydy put on a guilty face. "No."

We talked pretty much through the period... our teacher didn't care. Then Computer Class zoomed by. And before long, it was choir.

We ran the songs, and then the four announcers went on stage to practice... well, announcing.

When it was my turn, I cleared my throat. "Os Justi is a biblical piece based on... um... something from Psalms... "

Ms A, the choir teacher, told me what to say. I repeated it, embarrassed that I didn't remember to begin with. I promised to memorize it by that night.

I blocked math from my memory... and the next important thing in my day was the concert.

The Advanced Women's Ensemble was performing after the freshie... ahem, _Concert_ Choir. As I sat backstage, waiting to go on and sing, I saw a flash of a man with blue hair and sharp features leaving the theatre by way of backstage. _Hey, that looks like Nyklus!_ I laughed to myself. _From Fly or Fall!_

Maybe Nyklus was a bad guy, one of the adopted sons/apprentices of The Wizards of the Black Circle, but he was one of my favorite characters to write. I took his "appearance" as a good omen and went onstage with my choirmates.

I stepped up in front of everyone, to the microphone. "Hi, my name is Tabitha, and this is the Women's Ensemble. Our first piece will be Os..."

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" someone yelled.

I looked towards the back of the theatre, where the sound came. Standing there... well... it was five of my characters. Or rather, other people's characters that I wrote. Iginio Straffi's canon character Roxy... my Lysis... and was that really Safeyah, Avalon, and Kaylee? If I had been the fainting type, I would have been on the ground. As it was, I whispered "No way!"

The microphone amplified my voice, and Avalon flew up to the stage. She landed with her hands on her hips. "Yes, way. Scram, choir girl."

"That's not nice, Av," Kaylee said. "Seriously, you just interrupted her choir concert."

Ms. A looked odd- angry, and kind of scared. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

The five fairies looked at each other. "Uhhh..." Avalon said.

Suddenly, the curtains were on fire. Blue fire. Nyklus walked out. "I see you've found her again. Before me. No matter, I'll just take her!"

"Who?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me.

"Oh. Well, this is oddly both exciting and scary and I think I'm a little bit insane."

Being the author... or was I?... I knew what to do. I willed myself to transform, really hard. Before long, my stuffy black dress had been replaced with a... shorter stuffy black dress. Like a knee-length, glittery version of the choir uniform, awful character shoes and all. Wings that I knew looked like two alto clefs shot out of my back. "Oh god... am I..."

Nyklus tried not to snicker. "The fairy of choral performance."

I sulked a little. "Thought I'd be the fairy of fanfic or something. Whatever."

Since I was the author and I knew what to do, I shot an energy beam at him. "Nyklus, you're the weakest. I know that. I created you!"

"Did we accidentally find fairy Dr. Frankenstein?" Roxy muttered.

I turned to her. "Okay, villain vanquished, fairy found. Now, can I continue this choir concert!"

Quietly, the five fairies sat down in theatre seats and I finished my introduction.

And the choir... and one choir fairy... began to sing.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: THIS IS NOT CANON FOR THIS STORY<p>

Also, sorry it took so long. School's been horrible.


	9. Thrown to the Wolves: Rider's Story

**Thrown To The Wolves: Rider's Story**

"I'm not going!" I screamed.

Hunter sighed. "You have to. Or else they'll take you to some foster home, and what would either of us do then?"

I looked at my elder sister, born seven years before me. "You could homeschool me!"

"I'm barely out of secondary school myself, Ri. Besides, I have work... or don't you want to eat?"

I sulked, looking every bit the sullen American I was. I had moved to London, England a week ago. Now it was almost time for me to start school, and I wanted to head back home. Back to the country, where I could run free over the fields and swim in the lake near home. I hated being cramped into this city. You couldn't even see the moon some nights.

"Now," Hunter said crisply, "I picked up your uniform."

She threw it at me. A dark blue pencil skirt, white Oxford shirt, dark blue sweater and light blue blazer. "It's very... blue colored."

"That's Lake Garden Comprehensive for you," my sister chirped. "It's cute. Too bad I went to school in the US."

"Which I should be doing!"

Hunter glared. "You know that mum is sick."

"Will you stop that?"

"Stop what? Rubbing it in?"

"No!" I rolled my eyes. "The English-isms. You're an American, just like me, will you _please_ talk like one?"

"I do."

"Oh really. _Secondary school_. _Mum_. Next you're going to be giving me my _pocket money_ so I can hang out with my _mates_. You're turning... turning into a Londoner! Do you even remember that the sky is supposed to be blue?"

"Of course I do!" Hunter snapped. "And don't think I don't miss it. But you know the job offer for _Spark_ Magazine was too good for me to pass up. I mean, I'm doing what I always dreamed of doing, working in fashion. And here in Britain, I know you can get a better education. You can go to university and become a vet. Or, if you really don't like school, you can quit after your GCSE testing."

"Fine. That's what I'll probably end up doing. Now. Can I go yet?"

Hunter raised her hands in surrender. "Fine. Put your uniform away. I'll see you downstairs in it bright and early tomorrow."

I stomped upstairs to my room. It wasn't much- a bed with deep blue sheets, a desk, a full-length mirror, and a lot of boxes. I hadn't moved here that long ago, hadn't gotten around to unpacking.

Reaching into a box labeled "clothes," I pulled out my old school uniform from Aberdeen Day, back home in Kansas. I had altered it over the week before I came, so it was now a totally awesome punk outfit. The standard black polo now exposed my midriff, and the plaid skirt was nearly nonexistent. Instead of knee-high socks, I pulled on denim leggings and my knee-high black stiletto boots. I looked in the mirror, and decided just to ditch the skirt.

"Perfect," I said to myself once I pulled the skirt off. Even my straight brown hair was perfect- the little bit of light showcased the two purple streaks near my bangs.

I thought about going outside- what was the point of wearing something so awesome if I couldn't show it off?- but going out so soon after my argument with Hunter would show that she was more right that I'd let on, that I was adjusting. No. I wouldn't let myself adjust. I wanted to go back home, and that was it.

I sat down at my desk and opened the laptop that was a parting gift from my mom. A website was already pulled up. Tumblr. I clicked the button for "text post" and began to type.

_An American Werewolf in London_

_Well, actually, it's just me, Rider. I'm reporting for the first time from my new life in the UK. Funny how all of you guys are crazy jealous. I'd trade you in an instant, just to be back home. But I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto. This she-wolf's stuck in the big city, and for someone who loves her wide open spaces- not cool._

_I got my school uniform today. It's not too bad. At least there's that. _

_Until then..._

I inserted a "why?" reaction image, tagged my little rant as "personal," and clicked "create post."

I browsed my dashboard for a few odd minutes, then decided to sleep. I was bored, I was mad, and like it or not, I had a big day tomorrow. So, I climbed into bed, and I dreamed.

_"Rider, you're here," said an attractive male voice. _

_I looked around. "What? Who are you? Where are you?" All I saw was black._

_Out of the darkness, a man stepped. He had Kool-Aid red hair that was in an army crop, and wore jeans and a long-sleeved armored shirt. "Right here, Rider." He held out his hand to me. "I am Killian."_

_I started to take his hand, but paused when I noticed that my own fingers were gloved. I looked down, and found myself wearing a silver pair of shorts and matching halter top. I turned, and saw that on my back were a pair of iridescent silver wings, shaped like crescent moons._

_At least my boots looked the same._

_I dropped my hand, too in shock to remember that I was supposed to be shaking his. "Okay, Killian. Who are you? And what am I..."_

_He smiled, laughed. "You, dear girl, are a fairy. Fairy of Wolves, I believe. As for me, I am a wizard. We are the natural friends of all fairy-kind."_

_I suddenly remembered the fairy craze that was spreading the globe. Girls from all over were becoming fairies. Being one meant having powers. It meant being beautiful. For some, it meant they disappeared. Others had committed suicide. But the scariest thing, I knew, was that you didn't know if you were or not. Anyone could be one. _

_I guessed I was. "So... what do I do about it?"_

_"You join me. You help me and my brothers. It is your destiny. We have discovered a horrible truth, one that will poison your new people. Rider... it is up to you to stop this. Please, help us."_

_Killian started to fade. "Where are you going? What is this 'horrible truth?' Killian?"_

_"I can't stay; you're waking," he said. "Don't worry. We will meet again, in person. Meet me tomorrow, outside Smith's Deli, near Lake Garden Compre..."_

I woke up with a start. My alarm was blaring.

I slipped on my new uniform and began to walk to school. I could see other girls walking there, all dressed identical to me. I secretly hoped one would stop, talk to me, maybe be my friend. But nobody did.

I checked in at a thing called "registration." Hunter had already gotten my papers in order, so at least I didn't have to go to the office like a dork. The teacher in charge of checking students in looked up at me. "Rider Bradley, from the US?" I couldn't hear any accent.

"Yeah, that's me."

She squeezed my hand. "I'm Miss Pennisor. Nice to meet a fellow American!"

"Oh, you're American too! Cool! Where from?"

"New York City. And you?"

"Kansas. Nothing that exciting." I grinned.

"Well, I don't know about that. Plenty of people will think you're plenty exciting. Anyways, if you need anything, be sure to find me. I'll help you navigate."

"Cool," I grinned.

And... that was the end of the friendliness of the day.

Okay, okay, so some girls (and some guys!) tried to approach me. And some seemed to think I was okay. But I was distracted. Was Killian real? My dream? Would he really be meeting me? Was I honestly a fairy?

On top of that, I quickly learned that Lake Garden Comprehensive was rigorous. Within a day, I had six lessons, and in some subjects, such as Literacy, I did okay. But who signed me up for Ancient Greek? Or Art? I had a sinking feeling that Hunter was involved.

By the time school let out at 4:15... excuse me, at 4.15, I was tired, exhausted. I slung my blazer over my shoulder and left the building. I didn't look around for Killian too much. I was too shot. Besides... something was weird about a guy who showed up in my dreams and claimed to be a wizard.

Something clamped down on my shoulder. I jumped. "Ahhh!"

"Shush, Rider. It's only me, Killian."

I turned. Sure enough, it was him. "You're real!" I blurted.

He smiled. "Yes. And so are you." Then his face fell. "We need to make sure you stay that way."

I stared at him in horror. "What?"

"Come. I'll buy you a coffee. We'll talk over some caffeine, that way maybe you can stay awake."

I followed him into a small cafe. He purchased two drinks and handed one to me. When I tried it, it was bitter, but woke me up almost immediately. Killian smiled, pulled out one of the chairs at a two person table for me, and we both sat across from each other. "Now," he said, "I have to tell you something."

"Rider, you _are_ a fairy. The fairy of wolves. And that is wonderful- your power is amazing. But there's one small issue. Your wings."

"My wings?"

"See, when girls started turning into fairies, they went from human to fairy. They weren't born that way. It's unnatural, but that doesn't mean it's bad. All it means is that the wings don't belong on your body. They're poisoning you. They're poisoning every fairy on Earth."

My hand quivered. I was dying? "So, I won't use them."

Killian shook his head sadly. "Oh, Ri... do you mind if I call you that? It doesn't work that way. They're part of you. It would be like saying you just won't use cancer. The only way to stop it is to get rid of it."

"Wouldn't that mean I wouldn't be a fairy, then?"

"No. In fact, getting rid of your wings will give you even more power. It will make you healthier, stronger. You could be amazing. And I can help you." He leaned forward. "Help us heal the fairies, please Rider. You must let me help you so my brother wizards and I can heal all the girls like you."

I thought. "Will it hurt?"

"Yes. But not as much as dying will. And everything after that will be worth it. You will travel with us, help us. Go back to America."

I thought more. Eventually, I nodded. "Okay. Do it."

Killian and I walked, right into an old abandoned building. Three other men waited, smiling warmly at me. Killian smiled. "Wizards, this is Rider. Rider, these are my brothers- Nyklus, Gunner, and Trudric." The three of them nodded. They all had odd, punky hair: Nyklus blue ponytail, Gunner's purple mohawk, and Trudric's a long, platinum blonde curtain.

"Now that all the pleasantries are finished... Rider, I need you to concentrate hard on your dream, how you looked. Can you do that?"

"Yeah." I closed my eyes, and I thought. _Silver shorts silver shirt black boots silver wings_

And suddenly... I was dancing. My head was thrown back, as though I were howling. Gloves appeared on my outstretched hands, shorts on my shaking booty. I felt a sharp, but not too sharp, pain as my crescenty, beautiful, fatal wings appeared. When my transformation finished, I took my first- and last- real look at them. "Okay, Killian. I'm ready," I whispered.

He pursed his lips. "I'll do it quick," he promised. "On zero. Three... two..."

And he ripped, before he even got to one. I screamed, louder and longer than I ever had in my life.

Then it was done. I looked at myself. Things had changed- and not just my lack of wings. My shirt and shorts had changed to black. "What happened with my clothes?" I asked.

"The wings were sapping color from them," Nyklus explained.

"Wow."

Killian handed me my ripped, mutilated wings. "Absorb them," he said. "Step into them."

I took them, and pressed them hard into my breasts. Sure enough, I felt a surge of power. The power that they had apparently sapped from me. I felt great, better than I ever had in my life. On top of that, I felt another pressure, down near the end of my back. When I looked, I saw the tail of a wolf. "Cool. That's even cooler than wings," I said, smiling. The pain really had been worth it.

"So. Do you need to say good bye to anyone? Or should we be going? It might be better if we just leave. You're how old, seventeen? Still a minor, though."

"Fifteen. I guess I'll leave my sister an email," I said doubtfully. I didn't mind leaving her... but she would tell my mom, and I hated the idea that mom would be sicker because of me. "I whipped out my phone and began to send something from there.

"When you're done, you'll have to leave that here," Killian said. "Humans can use it to track you."

I sent the email and dropped my iPhone regretfully. "Okay. I'm done."

"Great!" Killian said. "Now, take my hand. We're going to Chicago!"

"How?"

"By transport." He smiled smugly. "You don't need wings to travel in style, Rider."

I grinned. "I guess not." And I fit my gloved hand snugly into his as we disappeared.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Rider belongs to Silverwolforever. What does everyone think?<p>

Next up is Mia Brice, a character created by Faded Book-Look Within.


	10. A Gift From The Authoress To The Readers

So... I was messing around last night with Fly or Fall, and somehow, I ended up inventing a poem to help me remember the characters introduced so far (plus the next one). I thought I'd share it!

_Roxy is sarcastic,_  
><em>Lysis is mature<em>  
><em>Saf is quadrilingual<em>  
><em>Though her Russian is unsure.<em>

_Avalon's a tomboy,_  
><em>Kristina is petite,<em>  
><em>LeLe dates a Specialist<em>  
><em>Who swept her off her feet.<em>

_Amanda turned out not to be dead,_  
><em>Kaylee's a mechanics fairy,<em>  
><em>Rider was told to ditch her wings,<em>  
><em>Mia's light and airy.<em>

_Nyklus is a big, mean jerk,_  
><em>The redheaded one is Killian,<em>  
><em>Gunner has a mohawk,<em>  
><em>And Trudric's the last villain.<em>

_This poem is a reference piece_  
><em>For the fanfic Fly or Fall<em>  
><em>There's oh so many characters<em>  
><em>Hope this helps you remember them all!<em>


	11. Flights of Fancy: Mia's Story

**Flights of Fancy: Mia's Story**

"I'm late! I'm late! I am SO LATE!" I exclaimed.

Margaret Marie rolled her eyes. "Mia, the world knows by now. Besides we're not late... yet."

"Sargent Patts is going to kill me!"

"No, he won't," said my best friend and voice of reason.

"I'll be a dead girl!"

"Okay, Mia. Now you're just being overdramatic."

My feet skid on the pavement as I did a 180 turn to face Mar-Marie. "You wouldn't love me if I was anything but," I said, sticking out my tongue in a silly manner and smiling.

Believe it or not, I'm sixteen years old and go to Northside College Preparatory Academy in Chicago, Illinois- one of the best schools around. In fact, it was one of the ten best magnet schools in the nation. People normally don't guess that when they look at me. I mean, I'm a small girl, small enough that some people think I'm only in fifth grade. I have curly hair that falls in ringlets to the place where my breasts would be... if I had them. I dress my age, kind of punk-rock, but that's not uncommon in little kids anymore.

The kicker, though, is how I act. Mar-Marie says I'm like a living anime character. I'm goofy, overdramatic, clumsy, and my expressions are over-the-top. And I know that. People think I'm weird, but the secret truth is that sometimes I enjoy stirring things up. It works for Misha Collins. So maybe someday it'll work for me!

We flew into the building, getting there (barely) on time. As always, advisory was boring. At least, it was to me. I was never the kind of smart girl who basked in how fun work was, school was. I was smart because I learned my work well and learned it quickly so I could be doing things I wanted to do as soon as I finished. So, as the ten minutes before my real classes started went on, my mind flipped channels.

I started thinking about my nightmares.

I didn't like nightmares (well, duh. Who does?). They went completely against my bouncy, carefree character. But the ones I had been having were incredibly weird. There were people, people I didn't know. They changed from night to night. One dream, I might be staring at a tall man, about eighteen years old, with bright red hair. The next, it might be a slightly younger guy with a weird purple mohawk. They would just stand there, in my dream, looking at me.

Last night everything had changed. It wasn't a boy standing there, like it had been the last few days. It was a girl, maybe a little younger than I was. And not just any girl. A werewolf. She reached out to me, looked concerned. She tried to tell me something, but I couldn't hear. All I wanted was to wake up, and eventually, that's what happened.

The bell rang, and I stood and walked to my first class. Almost in a daze, but alert enough to keep from running into anything.

I hurried through my work then pulled out my commonplace book. It was effectively a diary... only I wasn't actually patient enough to keep a real diary. It consisted of all of my doodles, poetry and other writings, dream journal, address book... anything a girl could need. I picked up a pen and began to draw. _High cheekbones. Long, long hair. Her clothes are black, and her makeup is natural. She's a lot taller than I am. And then... the tail._ I shaded in the wolve's tail protruding from the dream girl's back. _Perfect._

I heard three consecutive beeps and automatically looked up. That was the signal for a P.A. message.

_Mi... Ami...A...lia...hear me_?

My teacher frowned. "You're cutting off. Is something wrong with the P.A.?"

Someone giggled over the intercom.

"Excuse me?" my teacher demanded.

There was silence. Then, a rich, cultured voice that I had never heard before said _Send Amelia Brice to leave, please._

Everyone looked at me. I gathered my things and headed towards the office.

As I was walking in the last hallway before I got to the main office, someone grabbed me. "Hey!" I tried to scream, but it was no use- there was a hand over my mouth.

I looked around for a moment, but only saw a flash of pink shirt and a bunch of long blonde hair before I was blindfolded and gagged. "Mmmmmpph!" I said. It was supposed to be a scream, but you know.

"Is this really necessary?" said the cultured voice.

Someone snorted. "Look, Lysis texted me. They got one already. We can't take any more chances."

"But... what's the word? For stealing a human?"

"That'd be kidnapping."

"I don't know," said a new voice. This one was sweeter than the other two. "Safeyah, this really is for her own good. We're not going to hurt her. But the wolf girl will."

My eyes widened. They knew about the wolf girl.

"Anyway," the sweet voice continued. "Kidnapping isn't the best way to go about this. Couldn't we just explain about the wizards, like you did with me?"

"There's no time! We'll explain when we get there." It was the snappy, rougher voice again.

_Get where?_ I began to struggle again. "Mmmmmrrrrppphhhhhh!"

"Look," the sweet voice said. "She's scared. Can't we at least un-gag her?"

"When we get to the car."

I felt myself being led, then, when I tried to run, _carried_ outside. "Wouldn't have thought that one little girl would be this much trouble. How old is she, thirteen? She's gotta be a genius to be in high school... and one of the best in the country, too."

That was too much. I pulled my arm from someone's hand and yanked off my gag. "I'm sixteen! I'm a junior here! And yeah, you know what, I'm smart. Smart enough to know kidnapping commonly ends in..."

I was abruptly stopped as someone put their hand over my mouth.

I heard someone open a car door, and I was thrown in. The door slammed behind me, and through glass and metal, I heard the sweeter voice say "_Vulticulus_." Suddenly, I was regretting that I had chosen Mandarin instead if Latin as my language elective.

More doors opened, and I heard someone get in beside me. Two more people must have gotten in the front. Suddenly, I was being un-blindfolded. I could see the interior of an old car, and three girls around my age. The one who sat next to me had soft facial features, brown hair, green eyes. She wore her makeup perfectly, and looked in all manners like a classic popular girl from TV. Only nicer.

If I angled my head right, I could see the girl in the driver's seat. She was tall, with short blonde hair that brushed the tops of her slightly-pointed ears... it reminded me of an elf. On her face was a scowl. Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw the other girl had dark skin and hair, and looked concerned. "Who are you people?" I asked.

The popular girl smiled. "I'm Kaylee. The pretty one is Safeyah, and the grumpy girl in the driver's seat is Avalon. Sorry we had to kidnap you."

"_Had_ to kidnap me? Because the wolf girl would get me?"

Kaylee looked shocked. "You know about the fairy of wolves?"

"I do have ears," I said, my face curling into an annoyed expression. "Fairy? Like the ones on television?"

"Exactly," said Safeyah. "We're fairies too. The good kind, though."

"There's a bad kind?"

Avalon cut in. "Considering that the fairy of wolves pulled off her wings, is working for the apprentices of the guys who got rid of fairies in the first place, and already teared me up in a fight when we got here because I wouldn't do the same? Yeah. I'd say there's a bad kind."

She turned on the car and began to drive. "Okay," I said. "I get that you needed to get me out of the school to talk to me, but this is too much. I have Gay-Straight Alliance after school... and actually, the office was calling for me to leave!"

"Are you gay?" Avalon asked. "My gaydar isn't going off."

"No, actually. I'm in the straight part of the alliance. I'm the _only_ straight one in there, so you see, it's very important that you take me back! Especially because my dad's likely in there, wanting to get me for a doctor's appointment or something."

"Actually," Safeyah said, "I was the one manipulating the speakers. My powers deal with electricity."

So _that _was why it kept cutting off. "Okay. Okay. So Dad isn't at school. But he'll notice if I'm not home before five."

"That can't be helped," Avalon said grimly. "We've got to find some way to save you. They can get into people's dreams now. It's just creepy. You have no idea how creepy."

"Um, yeah, I do. I've been having those dreams too. Guys with weird hair and a girl with the tail of a wolf."

The three girls looked at me. "Well, maybe you do know," Avalon amended.

"What do we do about it? It's freaking me out," I muttered.

"We attack," Avalon said, a bit too enthusiastically. "We need to kidnap her. And then we can let you go."

"Ooookkayy. Why did you kidnap me anyway? I mean, yeah, she's a fairy, but I can defend myself!"

"Actually, we needed to speak with you anyway," Safeyah said quietly. "You're a fairy too."

They looked at me, as if expecting me to deny it or blow up. Instead, I shrugged. "Sounds legit."

"That went better than I expected," Safeyah said, confirming my suspicions that they were wary of my reaction. "When I told Avalon, she said that she couldn't be a fairy... when she told Kaylee, Kaylee got upset. I suppose we thought you, too, would have a negative reaction."

"So can I fly? Where are my wings? Do I get an awesome outfit too?"

"Yes, dormant, and yes," Kaylee laughed. "We'll show you when we get out."

"When's that? Are we there yet?"

"Yep," Avalon said as she parked. Everyone began to exit the car. I tried to open my door but it stuck. "Um... it won't open," I said.

Kaylee gave a sheepish grin. "Locking spell. Sorry. We thought you might try to escape." And she waved her hands, and the door opened.

I got out, only to face a large building, abandoned and creepy. "We're not going in there, are we?"

"Not officially," Avalon said.

"Which means..."

She sighed. "We aren't supposed to be. Lysis and Roxy... they're two other fairies, our friends... told us not to try to find them, or to fight them if we didn't have to. But the best defense is a good offense, in my opinion. If we bust in and stop the wizards and the wolf fairy now, then we don't have to worry about them any more. And that means that all of us can get back to normal, more or less. While the Apprentices of the Black Circle still roam, all of fairykind is in danger."

"I still don't approve of this. Roxy and Lysis have their reasons for telling us not to go after them, after all," Safeyah said softly.

Kaylee nodded. "Agreed."

"I told you guys you could back out."

"We are not letting you go in there alone," said the darker-skinned girl.

"Then it's decided. Let's roll."

We quietly slipped into the building, an old office complex. "Do you guys see anything?" Avalon asked.

"Nothing here."

"Or here."

"Or over here," I whispered.

"Alright then. Let's go, girls! Charmix!"

Three flashes of light burst around me, one in light blue, one in silver, and one in pink. The light lasted about thirty seconds, maybe forty, and at the end, the girls emerged in brand new outfits. And with wings. "Wow, you really are fairies!" I said. Avalon grinned. She was in a silver jumpsuit with black gloves and boots. Kaylee was dressed similar, though her jumpsuit covered more of her body and was pink. Safeyah looked like an Egyptian goddess in sparkly linen and leather sandals.

Avalon ran quietly down the hallways, the other two fairies and me following. She stopped at the end, looking both ways before making a left turn. We ran some more before she stopped again. "Do you girls sense that?"

Kaylee frowned. "Kind of."

Safeyah nodded frantically.

"I think they're in the next room," Avalon whispered. "We're going to burst in and attack. They won't know what hit them."

"Hmmm, I'd say it would be a couple shots of mechanical energy and a bolt of lightning," said a dangerous, musical voice. I turned to face wolf girl. "Back for more, Avalon?" she asked.

"Wolfy," Avalon sneered.

The girl looked hurt. "I have a name." She looked at me. "I'm Rider. I believe we've met, Mia?"

"In your dreams! Actually... in my dreams." I giggled. "Hey, I made a pun!"

Rider held out her hand. "Come on, Mia. We've been waiting for you. We're gonna help you before it's too late."

"Help me?" I looked back at Safeyah, Avalon, and Kaylee. "But... they're good. They're the good guys."

"I don't doubt that they think that, but they're wrong! They're dying, all three of them. And you too! We can help you if you'll let us."

"I'm not dying!"

"Yes, you are. Your wings are killing you. You just aren't meant to have them! I know this. When the wizards tore off my wings, I felt more powerful, more free. It's a cancer, Mia! You've gotta let us help you!"

She was suddenly hit by a burst of silver energy. "Don't listen to her, Mia!" Avalon cried. "I feel fine. We all do. Wings can't kill you! That's so dumb!"

Rider glared. "Hey! Guys, we have visitors!" she yelled.

The door opened, and the four men from my dream walked out. They were holding hands, a chain of four people. The two on the end had the hands that weren't holding another hand raised into the air.

And a dark storm was brewing around them. "The Black Circle is reviving," Rider breathed. She turned to Avalon. "Look, I tried to convince you! But if you won't let us remove your wings, we'll have to do it without your permission!"

She grabbed Avalon and tried to drag her into the circle. But I latched on to the elfin blonde's other arm. "Oh no you don't!" I said.

Safeyah and Kaylee joined me, and we managed to yank Avalon from Rider's grasp. The storm was picking up, though... sucking things in. "Come on," Avalon said breathlessly. "We have to go."

Nobody argued. We raced back through the halls, hearing the sounds of Rider and the wizards pursuing us. We quickly left the building and got into the car. "Step on it, Av!" Kaylee screamed. Avalon obliged, and we pulled into the Chicago streets, almost causing an accident.

"We need to get away," I said. "Where can we do that?"

"We'll meet Lysis and Roxy," Safeyah decided. "Safety in numbers."

"I don't know," Avalon grumbled.

Safeyah was decided, though. "It's our best chance. We are going back to Canada."

We all nodded, determined.

Then I frowned. "Wait... you're kidnapping me to _Canada_?"

The three fairies smiled sheepishly.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: That was Mia Brice, a character created by Faded Book-Look Within. Hope you liked her!<p>

Next up we have Nakisha Cameron, by Gloxinia. She's going to be interesting to write, I just know it!

Also, there's a poll up on my profile- please vote for your favorite character in Fly or Fall there! Besides that, today is the second-to-last day of school for me. The majority of my writing is done in classes, so I may be less prolific over the summer. And since I may be in college next year (long story short, I applied for dual enrollment and don't know if I've been accepted or not), I don't know how that will affect my writing long term. But I'm sure I'll update every now and again, so keep an eye out.


	12. The Fighting Spirit: Nakisha's Story

**The Fighting Spirit: Nakisha's Story**

When Bryce tapped me, I jumped, then turned and shot an angry glare at him. He loved to sneak up on me, especially because one, it was easy since I was _deaf_ and all, and two, I hated it when he did that. He smiled at me, an apologetic grin that I knew he didn't mean, and I rolled my eyes. I couldn't stay mad at him for long. He was my best friend and more than occasionally, my ears.

"You scared me!" I signed to him, making my movements as sharp as I could. It wasn't actually so clear cut as "you scared me-" different people sign different ways, with their own unique dialects and unspoken words. In fact, there's a huge difference between the ease of ASL, American Sign Language, which was my language, and the rigid rules of SEE... Signed Exact English, which most people who aren't deaf use. For the ease of people who don't know me well, I normally do sign everything out in SEE, but when it's just my family or my translator, Victori Pennisor, I use ASL.

He shrugged. "It's fun," he responded in sign, confirming what I already knew.

"So you've been saying for sixteen years. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be hanging out with Brandon?"

"He got sick, so I thought maybe we could catch a movie."

I snorted. "Where I have to concentrate either on the action or on Victori telling me what the dialogue is? No thanks."

"We could rent something with subtitles. Or head to the park."

I signed back, frustrated, "You're not going to let this go until I say I'll do something, are you?" He shook his head. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, let's go on a walk."

I loved walking around my hometown of Iqaluit. It was always so interesting... a blend of your normal 2012 city and a bunch of really old stuff. For a capital city, it was small, which I learned when Bryce and I took a school trip out to Toronto, Ontario. It was almost peaceful, really.

We were heading out the door when Victori caught my arm. "Nakisha, you aren't going out there without me and a coat, are you?" she signed as soon as she had my attention.

For a women of twenty-seven who had only been my translator for about a month, Victori was extremely motherly... but my mom, Bryce, and I were all growing to love it. "I'm only going out with Bryce. He signs. He can translate for me if I meet anyone." I ignored the part about the coat. I was sixteen, I could choose what I wanted to wear, right?

"Like he did last time?"

Okay, okay... Victori had a point. Back last month, between my old translator, Lisette, getting sick and Victori coming in, Bryce had tried to fill in. But while I knew him well enough to get what he was saying, he didn't know a lot of the words he needed to translate in sign language. Some things... maybe even a possible relationship... ended in disaster.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Come on."

Victori smiled. "Your coat?" she signed.

I turned and got it, shooting a glare at her for good measure.

* * *

><p>"Let's stop in the park," I signed to Bryce. "It looks like a nice day for it, and we can swing."<p>

He shot me a thumbs up, not bothering to respond in sign.

We climbed onto the swings and started to go. I could get pretty high up. Obviously, I couldn't talk when I was swinging, but I was able to watch other people talk, even use my lip reading skills to make out a few words. Yes, it was spying. But what was I going to say? "I over_heard_ a bit of your conversation?" I was deaf, nobody considered that I might understand what they were saying!

I looked at a group of six girls, one about Victori's age, and the rest closer to mine. I tried to pick out a couple words. _Building... wolf... fairy._

Oh! That was interesting. They were probably talking about the recent fairy reemergence. I was interested in it, based on the little we learned in history class. I wondered why they were talking about it. Here in Iqaluit, there wasn't a single fairy, nor much interest in them. Some people even believed fairies were evil spirits, though I thought that was ridiculous. I mean, there were people I've met who thought I was cursed because I couldn't hear. More likely because of an illness I caught when I was little...

Victori must have called out to Bryce, because he signaled me down from the swing. "It's getting late," he explained. "We're gonna have to start heading back."

"Hold on!" I signed. "Give me five minutes."

Victori shook her head. "We need to go now."

But I wanted to see what the girls I had noticed were talking about! "Just hold on," I said, and I began racing towards them.

I had a sense that Victori and Bryce were following me, so I ran a little faster. Eventually, I burst out of the trees in the park, and into the small benched area where the six girls stood. Bryce crashed into me, coming up from behind. Victori managed to stop gracefully, her black hair coming to a graceful whirlwind around her shoulders.

The six girls looked at us. The older one, with slightly wavy blonde hair and dark eyes, looked shocked. "Victoria?" I read on her lips.

I looked at Victori. "Lysis, is that you?" I saw her say.

I nudged my translator. She looked at me. "Translate, please," I motioned, not wanting to bother picking the words off of people's lips.

Through Victori and Bryce, I found out a lot.

First of all, Victori, or, as Lysis called her, Victoria, was a fairy... the fairy of education. She and Lysis, the fairy of science, had been best friends when the fairies had been imprisoned, mainly due to similar powers and similar ages. Second of all, when the fairies were released from their jail in Tir Nan Og, both girls had similar plans- without telling the other. Victori began to teach, going to different towns and villages looking for fairies, keeping an eye out. Lysis and the five girls who were with her were on a road trip that was now about nine months long- they were looking for fairies too, but much more intensely.

And third, Avalon- a sixteen year old girl with a boyish hair cut and sparkling eyes- had picked up a lot of signs, but wasn't very good at the grammar, so it came out more as SEE. Made evident when I asked about the bad guys that the fairies were after, and Avalon asked Victori, "Why is she saying 'Fairies, chase bad men?'"

Which brings me to fourth: there were four really mean wizards who wouldn't rest until Earth's magic population was wingless and powerless. Again.

Lysis and Victori must have talked for half-an-hour, and ended with mutual invitations- Lysis inviting Victori to come with them, and my translator asking the girls to stay a while and rest up before they searched for more fairies. "I'll think about it," the two friends said at the exact same time, then burst into laughter.

Bryce, Victori, and I walked back to our house, where my mom was waiting. "Hello, everyone," she signed and said simultaneously.

"Hi, mom," I signed as Bryce said "Hi, Aunt Emilie."

"How was your walk?"

We looked at each other. "Walky,"Bryce said.

"Okay, then," she laughed. "I've got pot roast in the oven. It'll be ready in an hour."

"Sounds good," Victori said. Then she looked at me. "Sorry, Nakisha," she signed.

I shrugged. It happened.

I went up to the room Victori and I shared, and looked out the window. Fairies were out there, out in the world, out in my town. Wow.

That's the moment I felt it. It was like my ears popped. And then, someone said "Excuse me, miss?"

And I heard it.

And... wait... I understood it. Which was the truly incredible thing. I could read English, and read lips, but I still didn't think if I miraculously got my hearing back... as I had seemed to... I could understand spoken English. But here it was, clear as day, and I could hear it!

I turned, only to see a young man standing in my room. I held my breath so I wouldn't scream, and reached out to hit him, to try to make him get out of my room!

My hand went right through him.

"Who are you? What are you? Are you a ghost? What are you doing in my room!" I signed, sure I must look visably rattled.

The man huffed at me. "Will you stop motioning in all those obscene, odd gestures with your hands and just talk?"

"I don't know how!" I signed.

"Now I asked you to stop that, young lady!"

I ran out of my room, ran downstairs, almost ran into Victori. "Victori! Victori!" I signed.

"What?" she replied in ASL.

"Say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" She was still signing. "I'm a purple alien from outer space."

"No," I told her. "Say something in English. Use your mouth!"

"I'm a purple alien," I read on her lips.

Bryce looked at her from across the room. "Weird," I saw him say. "I wouldn't have guessed."

I was disappointed. "I can't hear you," I said.

Victori raised one eyebrow. "Nakisha... you're deaf," she signed to me.

"I know! But I heard... I understood... this man, I think he's a ghost, and I heard him!"

Victori looked at me, then raced up to our room. I followed. When we got up there, she raised her hands, and said something that I couldn't make out. Slowly, the man appeared again. He looked at me. "Oh. It's the rude girl."

I copied his tone. "Rude... girl."

I paused in wonder. My voice was... kind of rough, but pretty. It was high and reluctant, and the sound of it made me want to say more.

"Who are you?" questioned a softer, lower voice.

I turned and was not surprised when I realized that the voice belonged to Victori. I didn't know how to say what I wanted to tell her out loud, so I tugged on her shirt. She glanced down, and I signed, "Your voice is so pretty."

"You heard me?" she said out loud. I nodded.

"If she hears you," the ghost grumbled, "tell her to stop making those demonic motions with her hands!"

"She hears you!" I said, with a bit more confidence. I was unsure if my grammar was right... but I thought I must have gotten the point across.

Victori looked at me, then at the ghost. "You can hear communications from the spirit world. When I talk on the spirit channel, you hear it. You hear the ghost. What does that mean?" I shrugged, and she continued. "I've heard of humans hearing ghosts, seeing ghosts. But never the deaf ones. Nakisha... I think you might be a fairy."

I didn't know how to respond. I was kind of busy being in wonder over the sound of my name.

She grabbed my hands. "Do you know what this means?"

I shook my head.

"I cast a spell to talk to the spirit."

"The spirit can hear you," the ghost grumbled. "The spirit has a name."

She waved him off. "Whatever. What I'm saying, Nakisha, is that if fairies cast that spell, you should be able to hear them and talk to them."

"But the only fairy who lives around here is you!" I signed.

"That's why we're leaving, you and I. We're going to go with Lysis and her friends. We'll be able to talk to you, and you to us!"

"Will Mom go for it?" I asked.

"I'll convince her!" Victori exclaimed. "It's the best thing for you! She won't be able to disagree!"

"Hey, what about me? What's the best thing for me?" the ghost complained.

"Nobody cares," Victori said. She grabbed my arm and dragged me downstairs. "Come on. We'll explain over pot roast."

I smiled. Just at the sound of her voice.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Aaaannnd, that was Nakisha. Another character develoupment chapter, as we'll get more of her later.<p>

Next up is Lynn, that character my friend Maydy submitted (remember? From the bonus chapter?). Though she may be a while because I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo. My username for that is OohJuice, just in case you wanna check me out. Who else is doing that?

I hope you're enjoying Fly or Fall!


	13. Heart of Gold: Lynn's Story

**Heart of Gold: Lynn's Story**

_Georgia_, I told myself, _is a state here. Not a country._

The thought was quite weird to me. I had spent the first seventeen years of my life growing up with my brother Jason in Ireland. Now, because of Da's business, we had moved to the USA. State of Georgia. City of Macon. It was a lot different than home, but at least here we had a bigger house and a little more money.

I looked around the street where I was. I was walking to Howard High School, the place where I would be receiving my education from now on. At seventeen, I was a senior there. I knew from books and movies that it was considered quite odd to start at a new school in the middle of senior year, but I hoped that it wouldn't be too much of an issue. I mean, all I wanted was to finish up and head off to uni. Whether back at home or here in the States, I didn't know.

I began to walk again. It was still early, only six-thirty. The sky was dark and the air was a tad humid, and there was nobody around in my sight. I clutched my bag tight when I heard what sounded like the howl of a wolf. I started walking faster, then even faster when I heard another howl. "Not gonna run, though, cause pups like to chase," I reprimanded myself breathlessly. "Jus' gonna get to the school building."

Suddenly, a wolf burst out of nowhere. I let out a scream, which only served to make it lope towards me. From the trees which I was _pretty sure_ it must have sprung, two more wolves came, flanking the first. It was a small pack, and one that was apparently attacking me. I backed away slowly... and ran into something soft. Turning quickly, I faced a tall girl with dark hair, a sparkly black outfit, and the tail of a grey wolf. "Hi there, Lynn," she said.

As I stood in shock, she made a movement with her hands. Suddenly, the wolves were lying down on the sidewalk. "Sorry for scaring you. We thought you were someone else. Your vibration is a little hard to pick out."

"What vibration? My aura? Who are you?" I was, myself, pagan, but as there were so many varieties of that, I needed to clarify what she was talking about. Besides, who was she, and why did she want my vibration in the first place? How did she know my name, either?"

"Relax," the girl said. She waved a hand again, and I braced myself for a wolf attack. However, that did not happen. Instead, her sparkling outfit faded into purple and black striped leggings and an oversized black tee shirt that fell to her knees. On her feet were black heels.

"Are you a witch?" I asked, and for once I didn't mean a neopagan who practiced magic... I meant one of the ones from the stories I had been told since I was little.

She grinned. "A fairy, actually. Rider Bradley, fairy of wolves. At your service."

"Don't fairies have wings?"

"Most do. In fact... all are born with the ability to summon wings. But on Earth, we've been without them for so long, that our bodies are slowly killed by them. Only the most ancient of fairies can still keep their wings with no side affects. Such as the fairy queen. So, mine were removed about a month and a half ago."

"Okay. Well, best o' luck to you, Rider. Sorry about the mix-up."

She reached a hand out, took me by the shoulder. "No, Lynn, it was a good mix-up. I needed to find you anyway... I just expected it to be after I found that Avalon."

"Avalon?"

"Oh, she's a ridiculously stubborn brat who can't stand a little pain. Nobody you need to be concerned with."

I was still curious about this Avalon, but I let it slide. "Do... do you mind if I try something?" I asked.

"What?"

"A little bit o' magic."

Suddenly, Rider looked very, very surprised. "So you know about your fairyhood?"

A beat of silence passed. "What?" I demanded.

"Well, you just asked about magic! I thought you knew you were a fairy!"

"I'm a witch! I read up on this spell to make sure the person you're talking to is telling the truth!"

"Ugh, that's so primitive!" Releasing my shoulder, she took up my hand and pressed it to her face. "Watch this," she said, and closed her eyes.

There was a flash in front of me, and I felt a sharp pain coming from a sort of phantom limb extending from my back. Wings? The pain subsided, and I let out a breath, only to have it taken away when an immense power entered me. Suddenly, I felt wonderous. I felt strong. I wanted to capture that feeling in a jar and keep it forever.

But the light of the flash went away, and I was standing with Rider once again. She released her hand. "See what getting rid of your wings does? It makes you so much stronger. I want to help make you that much stronger, Lynn. I felt you. And I just knew I was meant to help you."

Suddenly, there was another flash. Not as deep, not as literal. I just felt an all over compassion. A sense of sympathy, a little bit of worry. Instinctively, I knew that the feeling was coming from Rider. Was she doing this? But her face didn't have an expression of concentration as it had previously. Maybe... just maybe... the sense was my own magic?

I looked at the girl who I had just met, but who already cared about me. "Can we talk more after school? I'm already going to be late as-is, and it's my first day of classes in America."

"Of course," Rider nodded. "In fact, since it's my fault you'll be late... let me help with that. Grab my arm." I complied. "I know mostly fairy magic, but there's a couple wizard spells... including this one to transport to somewhere else. I've got a few wizard friends who can do it on will, but I have to say the incantation, so you'll have to be completely silent for a sec."

When I nodded, she raised up the arm I wasn't holding onto. "Power of the Black Circle, lend me your magic so that I may tread where I wish. May I strike like lightning where you take me. Black Circle, I command you!"

It felt like we were whisked into a thunderstorm for a moment, but after a few seconds, I saw that I was in front of my new school. I released Rider's arm. She smiled. "I'll catch you here around three thirty, okay? Give the masses some time to clear out," she said conspiratorically, then began the transportation spell again.

It was six forty-five, fifteen minutes before anyone was even allowed into the school, so I ended up waiting on a bench outside, then as soon as the clock struck seven, I found myself immediately rounded into the gym. I kept my head down, too shy to ask anyone anything. But it was okay. After my encounter with Rider, I had a lot to think about.

The first bell rang, and I rose, ready to go to my first class. But, for the second time that morning, a hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I turned to face a really cute girl. She was a little taller than I was, and looked a little younger. Her hair, like mine, was blonde, only while mine had a strawberry tint and fell to my breasts, hers was more yellow and barely grazed the tips of her ears. Her eyes were blue while mine were green, and she was a lot leaner, too. "Are you new here?" she asked.

I nodded. "Pleased to meet'cha. I'm Lynn O'Reilley."

"Avalon MacAdams."

I could feel my eyes widening. Avalon? As in, the girl that Rider had been so annoyed with? Well, it wasn't a common name, so probably. "Avalon?" I asked. "Do you by any chance know someone named Rider?"

Suddenly, Avalon's arm dropped. "Why?" she asked accusingly. "Is she a friend of yours?"

"I... I guess you could say that."

"Damn it!" she exclaimed and stomped her foot. "We come all the way out here even though we're _supposed_ to be taking a vacation in California for the next week, and we don't even get here in time! So now we have this brainwashed fairy who's probably already had Nyklus and Killian rip off her wings in some lame attempt of life-save-iness. Great. Just great."

"Don't you want my life to be saved?" I asked, because Avalon did not seem evil.

"Of course," she said. "Only Rider's a big fat liar and tricks girls into giving up their wings. Or tries. Until now, we've managed to stop her."

I was so confused. Surely one of them was lying? But I sent my newfound power out, and a lot of the emotions I felt radiating from Avalon were the same as the ones I felt from Rider. Concern. Worry. A little bit of hope that she didn't want to let grow, in fear it would be squashed. And I could tell that she wasn't lying, but I could say the same about the first girl I had met. "What's going on?" I asked myself aloud.

Avalon smiled sadly. "It's so complicated. Sorry you had to learn that too late." She turned, began to walk away.

"Wait! I haven't torn my wings off yet," I told her.

Her head snapped towards me. "Really?"

"I'm supposed to. After school today. But... I need to wait. I need to hear all of this, learn what's going on before I do."

"What classes do you have?" I handed her my schedule, and she scanned it. "Okay, none. But the same lunch as me and the others. Nice. Meet me in the cafeteria then."

"Okay," I agreed. "But no promises on the wing thing."

She winked at me. "Got it. I have to admit, if I were you, I'd be asking questions as well. Kudos."

* * *

><p>Classes went by too slowly, but eventually, I was waiting for Avalon at the door to the cafeteria. When I saw her finally, she wasn't alone. Four other girls stood with her. One had pink hair with two prominent blonde highlights, and beautiful purple eyes. Standing next to her was a gorgeous brunette cheerleader-type. Then there was a smaller brunette, who only came up to Avalon's chest, and finally a dark-skinned girl with her hair in a neat bun. "Hi," I said meekly.<p>

Avalon nodded. "Hey, Lynn. These are my friends. Roxy, Kaylee, Mia, and Saf."

"Good to know you," I said.

There was a mixture of replies, from "ditto," to "oh, you as well!" I guessed all of them must be fairies, as how else could such a diverse group be friends?

Together, we walked into the cafeteria. It was a nice room, large, spacey, colorful considering it was a high school and not an elementary school. They pulled me to a table. "So, Lynn, Av says that you've had a Rider encounter?" said Roxy.

"This morning. She startled me, ran into me on the way to school, and said she was looking for Avalon. Which is how I knew she may've been connected to you. Avalon introduced herself later."

"I was wondering how you knew," Avalon admitted. "But then when you messed around in my head and felt my emotions, I figured that it was just because you're a psychic fairy. Empathy, I think. The power of heart."

"Psychic? Empathy? And what kind of lame power is heart, anyway?" I exclaimed... though secretly, I was quite happy to have a label on my new abilities.

Saf smiled. "I think it's a lovely ability. One of our other friends is also a psychic fairy, but she is not empathic... she is a medium of sorts. She speaks to ghosts. You'll like Nakisha."

"Hey guys, we've only got a limited time for lunch, and we need to hear the rest of this," Roxy reminded us all. "So, what happened after she startled you, Lynn?"

I told them the entire story, of the spells she had cast, the spells I had cast. Of my utter certainty that Rider was completely sincere, and my confusion when I had the same sense from Avalon, although her story was completely different. The five fairies all listened, and I could tangibly feel their own concern, confusion, and concentration.

"Maybe she knew that Lynn was empathic and cast an emotional glamour?" Avalon suggested when I finished. "I mean, the girl is dabbling in wizard magic. Who knows what she can do? In a way, she's stronger than us."

"Or maybe she truly believes what she's been told," Mia said. "When I met her a month ago, she seemed to be really confident in her beliefs."

"Mia has a point, we weren't in England to tell her otherwise when the wizards came and spread their propaganda," Kaylee pointed out.

Roxy frowned. "I don't know how to tell. I'm so confused! And we know Lysis and Vick don't know either... maybe it's time to call the Winx Club."

Mia frowned. "The Winx Club?"

"Oh! That's right. I never told you how I discovered I was a fairy. The short version is the Winx Club, a group of fairies who live on other planets where magic has always existed, did the same thing that we do now, only they thought there was only one fairy. Me. They played a big part in the defeat of the original Black Circle wizards, but none of us thought to look for apprentices. They left about nine months ago. They're student teachers at Alfea College, the top fairy university in the universe."

"So that's even more reason why we have to keep going," Avalon said. "We can't pull them away from their duties."

I shuffled my feet under the table. "You've had encounters with Rider before," I stated.

The girls looked at me. "Well, yeah," Avalon said.

"Maybe it isn't my place. But how have you dealt with her?"

"She would start talking about how we all needed to give up our wings to save ourselves, and we'd say no, and she'd try to force us, so we'd kick her butt."

"Or run away screaming," Mia said. "That's happened too."

"Yeah, it has," Roxy admitted.

"Well..." I continued. "have you tried just telling her what you believe, about how wings aren't going to kill every fairy on Earth? If these Wizards told her otherwise, no wonder she believes it. So, try to help her see reason. With kindness."

There was a moment that was as silent as it could get in a high school cafeteria. Then Roxy muttered, "Why didn't we think of that?"

* * *

><p>We had agreed on a plan. I was going to meet up with Rider, but the other five fairies would be there too. They would explain, calmly and kindly, what they believed was happening. Rider would have a chance to respond. I wouldn't say anything at all, only stand there and use my powers to make sure everything stayed calm... and to decide which side I was on.<p>

When Roxy's cell-phone beeped three-thirty, the air started to shimmer. Soon, Rider appeared out of nowhere. "Ready to go, Ly... _you.__"_

She was glaring at Avalon, then snapped her head back towards me. "Did they get to you? Ugh, I knew this would happen if I wasn't careful."

"Shut up, Beastgirl," Avalon said. "She hasn't picked our side... yet. We're just here to talk."

"About what? Your awful guy hair?"

Well, the whole kindness thing wasn't working out quite the way I planned it. I decided to intervene. "Okay, okay. You hate each other, I get that. Believe me, the hate is coming off you in waves. So, let's get this straightened. Rider, you believe that wings are fairy poison."

"Yes! I do. When my wings were removed, I felt so much more powerful. I felt wonderful!"

"And Avalon, Roxy, Kaylee, Mia, Saf. You don't believe they're poison."

Roxy answered for the group. "They can't be. We feel fine with them. And my friends, the Winx Club, told me that it is the deepest sense of pain and loss when a fairy loses them. But they always grow back. It could take years, but they always grow back."

"Like relapse?" Rider asked.

"No, like destiny," Roxy said, and her voice was kind. I could feel her heart, truly caring for the fairy of wolves despite all that the girl was putting her through. "Did you feel that loss? Did you, Rider?"

Rider's already pale face had paled even deeper. "That was only because I was leaving my family behind."

"No, it wasn't," Saf said kindly.

Rider's eyes hardened. "They told me this day would come. The Wizards said that one day, you'd get tired of fighting, and that would be the day you'd try to trick me in a last-ditch effort. Well, I'm not buying! Power of the Black Circle, lend me your magic so that I may tread where I wish..."

"Stop her!" Avalon exclaimed, and ran to try and break her spell.

Roxy put a hand out, blocking her friend's path. "No. We did all we could. The rest... discovering the truth... is up to her."

"May I strike like lightning where you take me. Black Circle, I command you!" Rider disappeared, leaving us alone.

"I'm coming with you," I said. "I don't know who I believe yet. And maybe my power is meant to be the one to stop this ridiculous fightin'. I feel it in my heart."

The girls smiled the smiles of those who had only half won. "Welcome to the team, Lynn," Roxy said.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Lynn is by my friend Maydy. Hope you like her!<p>

Only two more chapters before the girls leave North America. The next chapter's focus character is a surprise, and though the one after that is about Smiles1998's Star Carson, we'll also see the return of Kristina, LeLe, and Amanda (just for a chapter, though we will definitely see more of them as the story progresses). After that, we'll see Akela Victoire's Naida. And that's a rough sketch of the next three chapters for you.

Now that Camp NaNo is over, I'll be updating as often as my mind and computer time will allow! Remember, I'm still accepting OCs!


	14. The Science of Going Away: Lysis's Story

**The Science of Going Away: Lysis's Story**

It was ten months after Roxy and I left Gardenia, and since then we had picked up seven other fairies, and rescued even more than seven. And though the longer and longer it was since the Magical Renaissance began, the more fairies emerged- Roxy and I decided that we all deserved a vacation. After all, it was a lot of work, what we were doing.

Our vacation was almost ironic, however. Most people on vacation went somewhere to relax. Our idea of a vacation was more about heading home to Gardenia, staying at the Institute of Magic, taking a break from active fairy-finding, but still planning things out.

"So, fairies are now kind of spiraling out from the Tir Nan Og gateway," said Arcadia, fairy of video games and close friend of Nebula, "which means you guys have to leave the continent at some point."

"But there are still a ton of fairies in the United States," Roxy argued.

"We could split up," Victoria (who was currently going by Vicki, though as she was infamous for switching nicknames, I didn't expect that to last long) suggested.

We were at a meeting of the fairy council, reporting on our status and making plans. Queen Nebula sat at the head of the table, with Morgana on her right and Roxy on her left. Secretaria, fairy of records, was there, as were Arcadia, Vicki, and I. Even Aurora, Diana, and Sibylla had journeyed to meet. I was happy that Sibylla had come- I needed to talk to her about Rider, and besides, she was the youngest of the major fairies, only thirty. She had been like an older sister to me when we were imprisoned.

Nebula leaned forward in her chair. "How would you split?"

With a wave of her hand and a silent spell, Vicki summoned a floating diagram. "Okay, so one adult on each team. It would make the most sense for Lysis to stay in the States, since I'm multilingual and she isn't." We all nodded. "I'll take Safeyah, since she speaks Greek, Russian, and Arabic. Lynn, because she speaks Irish. Nakisha, because she needs me to translate."

"Which leaves me with Avalon, Kaylee, Mia, and Roxy. Unless you want the extra person?" I asked.

"Well, Mia was telling me she's taken three years of Mandarin, but she's also kind of... missing."

The table immediately panicked. "What happened? Did the Apprentices kidnap her?" Nebula managed to ask.

"No. We did. Her dad's contacted the police. No way can we get her out of the country."

"Maybe you should take her home," Nebula said.

Roxy shook her head. "But we can't. Rider and the wizards have shown that they have the power to force fairies to give up their wings... they've almost completely unlocked the power of the Black Circle all over again. Even with Kaylee and Saf, Avalon almost managed to get her wings ripped off. Mia can't even transform yet; we haven't wanted to force it, because that would hurt her power. We can't leave her on her own until she transforms. At least Kristina is studying. Amanda can fight if she's in danger. And LeLe has fully unlocked her abilities, all she needs to do is train. But Mia's completely pre-Charmix."

"Are there any other kidnapped fairies?" Nebula said tiredly.

I shrugged. "Kristina's run away... but no, the others have gotten permission. Which is good for us. Easier."

Nebula sighed. "We'll meet about this again after Mia transforms... or if something happens. Maybe I can find a way to speak to her parents."

"Father only," I said. Nebula nodded and dismissed the council.

As soon as we walked out of the council room door, I was immediately bombarded by Avalon and Mia. "Ly!" the fairy of tools exclaimed. "You will never guess what."

"What?" I inquired.

"I got a text an hour ago from Amanda, asking if we were anywhere near NYC, because her school band is taking a class trip there this week and they have a couple nights free..."

"So I," Mia cut in, "said, 'hey, let's look at the fairy tracker and see if there's a fairy in New York. And there was!"

"So I called up LeLe, since Harrisburg isn't that far."

"And then Kristina was walking past when Avalon was calling LeLe and said that the sandwich shop she worked at was undergoing renovations and maybe she could temporarily join the team!"

"So all of us fairies that have been found so far could go party up in NYC for a couple days, find a new fairy, go shopping... it'd be fun!"

"Please, Lysis? Pretty pretty please with a strawberry on top?" Avalon looked at Mia, and the smaller girl shrugged. "What? I don't like cherries."

I sighed. "You looked at the fairy tracker? You went in my private bedroom so you could look at it? It's so delicate!"

Avalon waved it off. "It's fine. We were careful. No harm done. So, can we? I mean, it's better than us just staying here in Cali and watching reruns of Supernatural on the CW."

"I dunno. Supernatural is a good show," Mia said seriously.

"I thought you wanted to go to Byron and see your family," I mentioned.

"Yeah, but they're on their own vacation in Europe. Guess I should've called to mention I was coming."

I sighed. "If I say no, how many of you are likely to sneak off and go to NYC on your own?"

"Me and Mia. Maybe Lynn. Kaylee, if her urge to shop overrides her goody-two-shoes-ness. Maybe even Roxy. Roxy, you in?" I turned and looked at Roxy, behind me. She smiled and shrugged.

"Alright, alright!" I said, rolling my eyes. "We'll go. But when we're on the way... well, let's just say I've got some important news to share with the group. I'll do it on the road."

"Oh, they already know," Avalon said. "Saf planted a bug in the conference room and then relayed the news to everyone through mass text. She's excited to go back to Greece."

I facepalmed. Dealing with a bunch of teenage fairies was insane. I was almost happy we were splitting up.

Avalon suddenly grinned. "Ooh, we should make up team names. Shouldn't we?"

"Team names! AWESOME!" Mia exclaimed.

I shook my head and sighed once more.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: One more chapter, then we'll see some fairies leave the continent! The current plan is to do one chapter with the international group, and then one with the US group... we'll just keep alternating. :)<p> 


	15. No Laughing Matter: Star's Story

**No Laughing Matter: Star's Story**

"Sound check been done?" I asked Chloe.

The percussionist for G2B2 gave me the thumbs up. I tugged on my short, slouchy purple dress (over a long white turtleneck and black jeans for modesty) and looked around backstage nervously. Chloe, Nina, Darline, Laru, and I had all played shows before, but here at Night Sky the top all ages club in New York... it all seemed so different.

_What if we drive them all out? _I wondered. G2B2 had an nontraditional sound. I mean, we were a girl band... who did covers of songs done by boy bands... on instruments used by school bands, not rock bands. What if Night Sky threw us out because we stunk up the stage? Or worse, what if they didn't pay us?

The curtain opened, and I grabbed the mic and tried to look confident. "Hey everyone, we're G2B2, and we're going to start out with something we know you'll love. You guys ready?"

The response was barely enthusiastic. It was a Tuesday, after all, the deejay's night off, and so the place was only half as crowded.

Whatever. I nodded to Laru, on violin, and slowly Chloe followed, launching into _I Should've Kissed You_. By the time Nina (on flute), me (the vocalist), and Darline (tuba) got into it, I could tell that reception was better than I expected, but not enough to make us wildly famous. When the song ended, Laru motioned to get my attention amid the minimal applause. I looked at her, and she mouthed _use your secret weapon. _

_Not yet,_ I said. I knew I would have to eventually, to keep the audience interested, but no way would I do it right after the first song! I didn't want it to lose novelty, so I started _I Want It That Way_ and hoped for the best.

We were midway through the fourth song, _Troublemaker,_ when I decided it was time. Between verses, I twirled around and threw up my hands. And out of nowhere, sparks flew. Literally. With a snap of my fingers, they turned into bubbles, and I blew them out towards the audience, who was now paying twice as much attention.

We finished the set, ending with oldie-but-goldie _MMMbop_, blew kisses to the audience. For that hour, we were like real celebrities. And we all knew it was thanks to my secret power. I smiled. Night Sky wasn't closing for a half-hour, so I even had time to grab a Diet Coke and relax for a little before I had to head back to my apartment.

When I emerged from backstage, I was immediately bombarded by what I assumed to be my first ever rabid fan. She was taller than me, with pink hair I would die for (my mom made me keep my hair black, though let me put in purple highlights as a compromise), and an adorable semi-punk outfit. "Hi," she said. "Are you Star?"

"That's me," I grinned. "Star Carson, at your service."

She smiled. "Um, this might sound weird. But do you want to come sit with me and my friends until the club closes?"

There was a beat of silence where I stared at her in wonder. Because nobody had ever asked me that before. Not even my bandmates. I may have been the lead vocalist in a semi-popular band, but everyone who knew me thought I was that freak who believed in magic and spent her weekends watching shows for Japanese elementary school girls (though I tried to explain that a lot of them also had older fans) and didn't go to school (I was homeschooled with my sister Ayesha and my brothers Cliff and Armandi).

Then, I broke out into a smile. "Yeah," I said, grinning wider as time passed. "I would love to!"

She led me over to a crowded table, where about ten girls were sitting. Pulling up another chair, she made room for me by her side. "I'm Roxy," she said. "and these are... well, there's really too many to name. Everyone, this is Star. She's the vocalist. You know, the one who played the trick with the bubbles?"

A girl with short blonde hair, a trucker cap, and a flannel shirt leaned towards me. "Yeah, Star. How'd you do that, anyway?"

To be honest, if I hadn't watched so much television, I probably would have told them. But all the episodes in _mahou shoujo_ shows that were dedicated to hiding powers had taken a toll. "A magician never reveals her secrets," I said, laughing it off.

The blonde girl raised her eyebrows. "Really."

"Your band is really cool," said a girl across the table, who had stormy eyes. "I'm actually here in NYC on a band field trip, so it's cool to see a pop cover band using a tuba, flute, snare, and all that. So unconventional. What's your band called again?"

"G2B2. Girl Band Band Geek for long."

"Wouldn't that be GB2G?" the blonde asked.

"We thought about that," I admitted, "but it really isn't as catchy."

"And what does the bubble trick have to do with band?" she continued.

"It looks cool!"

"Are you hiding latent magical powers?" she asked, nearly yelling.

Roxy's eyes widened. "Avalon!" she demanded in a whisper. "Why are you pushing this?"

I thought about getting up and running. But there were so many of them. If they wanted me, no way could I outrun them all. "Yeah," I said. "I am. And I think it's because I'm a Precure Warrior."

They stared at me. "A what?" asked the one who I assumed was Avalon.

The girl next to her, a petite brunette with a Vampire Diaries shirt on, perked up. "Precure! Oh my gosh, I wish we were Precure. I already have my catch phrase picked out and everything! I'd be Cure Creativity. Instead of just the fairy of Creativity like I am now. And we would have awesome powers of fighting, not just magic, and then we'd be in one of those All Stars DX situations and I would meet Cure Moonlight..."

"Mia!" Avalon said. "We get it. You wish you were Precure, just like you wish you were Elena Gilbert, and Misha Collins."

"Oh, good choices," I noted. "I think we're going to be friends."

She gave me a thumbs up before Avalon looked at me. "You're the fairy of happiness. And you're blatantly using your powers to put on a show with your band. Do you know how dangerous that is? There are people out there who want to find you and destroy you! Ugh."

"The first time, it just happened," I said defensively. "And everyone thought it was a stage trick. So I didn't think anyone would actually... you know, know. I mean, people do stage magic all the time!"

"Yeah. But magical beings sense other magical beings. They know what they're dealing with."

"Like you guys," I realized softly. "What are you?"

"Fairies, of course! I mean, what other magical species has been proven to exist?" Avalon asked with a sigh.

"Spoiler alert, though," Mia said. "Wizards are real too. We're dealing with some nasty ones."

"So... so I'm a fairy?"

"Mmmhmm!" Mia said.

I looked down at the table. I had to admit, though I didn't even consider that I could be a fairy, it made perfect sense. They had been rediscovered about a year ago, and I knew that some girls were becoming fairies themselves. But I hadn't put two and two together when my own weirdo magic started develouping. Now, though... now there was only one question. "So. Now what?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Roxy inquired.

"I mean... I mean... now what? So, I'm a fairy. What do I do with this little bit of information?

"Well," she said slowly. "You could travel with us and help find other new fairies. You could go to California to study at the Institute of Magic, or to the realm of Magix to study at Alfea."

"Can I stay here and get on with my life?"

"Well, of course you can, but..."

"The wizards!" Avalon said. "If we leave you here, defenseless and alone, they might come and rip off your wings. And that would not be good."

"So I need to train so I won't be defenseless?"

"Right!"

"So, if you teach me how to defend myself, I can stay here?"

Roxy nodded. "Wow. I don't think any of us think of this stuff that we need to be considering."

"Yeah," Mia agreed. "First with the trying to talk to Rider civilly, and now with the teaching fairies so we... cough cough... don't have to kidnap them from their schools?"

"Mia, you can't even do a simple matter merge exercise, let alone cast defensive magic. If I was on the team, I would have kidnapped you too," said a fairy with dark brown hair and lightly tanned skin.

Mia stuck out her tongue. "No one asked you, Kristina."

I rose from the table. "Why don't we go back to my apartment. Night Sky is closing any minute, and my parents work nights. We can train. Maybe I can get enough defense down for me not to be kidnapped. Because if you don't mind, I really don't want to be kidnapped."

"Sounds good to me," Roxy grinned.

* * *

><p>The living room was crowded. No wonder, as it was part of a relatively small NYC apartment, and we were cramming fourteen girls into it and trying to hold a magic lesson. Some of the older, more experienced girls were sitting out of the way, in chairs and couches- Roxy, Kristina, and Avalon, along with girls named Safeyah, Kaylee, LeLe, and Lysis. But a woman named Vicki, who I had learned was the fairy of teaching and education, was leading a lesson with some of the less experienced fairies, such as Nakisha, Mia, Amanda, Lynn, and me.<p>

"Okay," Vicki said. "the very basics of magic is something easy, just some energy manipulation. Just put out your hand and let your heart lead the way. Your magic, at it's base, is all about belief, so the more you believe in yourself, the easier it will be."

I stretched my hand out, and the other four girls followed. Slowly, we let our hands focus our powers, and the room lit up with magic glows. Mine was a midnight blue sparkle that seemed to consume my entire hand. I wondered if it was that strong because I had always believed in magic, even before it was proven to exist? I had always expected to have some sort of powers.

I glanced at the others. Nakisha had a soft but steady glow of orange that she was slowly trying to make bigger. Lynn's energy was an odd color, sort of like magical strawberry lemonade, a mixture of pink and yellow. Amanda's was silver and crackled like lightning.

But when I looked at Mia, my heart melted. Tiny purple sparks were coming out of her hands, but no steady glow like the rest of us had. The look on her face was utter concentration and frustration... and a little bit of sadness. Thinking about how bad that would feel, to not be able to do a simple thing like this when even the new girl got it... it made me feel so horrible for her. And as I felt that, my own glow weakened.

_Fairy of happiness,_ I remembered. I was the fairy of happiness. No wonder her sadness made my power less powerful.

But... if I was the fairy of happiness... maybe I could do something?

I looked at my hand and smiled. _I believe in myself. I believe in my power. I believe in Mia,_ I thought. And as I thought that, the glow in my hands turned into something that looked like ribbons, or streamers. Instinctively, I blew them out towards Mia, and they whirled around her, then fell into the floor and vanished.

Lynn looked up. "What just happened?" she asked in her cute Irish accent. "Everybody just got a mood lift."

"I did it!" I said. "I used my power to try to share happiness."

"Wow," Vicki said. "I haven't seen a brand new fairy that powerful since... ever."

"Do you think she's a major fairy?" Lysis asked.

"Major fairy? What's that?" LeLe furrowed her brow, confused.

"A major fairy is a fairy who's power comes not from belief in magic, but simply from the world around her in some form- whether it be something in nature, a general human trait, or even a concept. There's plenty of them in other realms, but less on Earth. Nobody knows why. So while they aren't differentiated from others at Alfea, here they are. They're normally more powerful and control their power easier. The fairy queen, Nebula, is the major fairy of war and peace... Roxy's mother is the major fairy of thought... but I've never heard of there being a major fairy of happiness before. Why not, though?"

"But what would that mean for me?" I asked. I was suddenly a little bit terrified. Yes, I had always wanted magic, but being some magical fairy bigshot sounded scary.

Vicki smiled at me. "Relax. It only means as much as you want it to mean. There are major fairies who are guardians of the Earth and all, but Morgana just lives a normal life, and I'm certain others do as well."

"The question now is if Star is a major fairy, does that mean she's in more or less danger? Yes, she should be able to protect herself without even blinking. But if the Wizards outthink her, or somehow overpower her, they'll be all the more powerful with the wings of a major fairy." Lysis looked at me as if I had the answer.

"So, does she come with us?" Vicki asked.

I suddenly realized something. "No, I don't. I'm going to risk staying here because where I am, who I am, that's my decision. My entire life only means what I want it to mean, right, like my major fairy status?"

"Possible major fairy status; you'll want to get that tested at some point," Lysis said.

"So I'll risk it. I'm eighteen years old, an adult. And I have decided to defend myself. Though... is there anyway I can learn magic here in NYC? I want to learn, I just... I can't freak out my parents and siblings by randomly going off. Who would babysit, anyway?"

"Hang on," Vicki said. "I think I have a plan that will satisfy us both." She took out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Oppidan? Hey, Victoria here, and I have a favor to ask. There's a new fairy in the Big Apple with you... Star. We think she might be the major fairy of happiness. Could you possibly look after her until she goes to college, just keep an eye out, maybe teach her some things? Awesome. I'll give her your number, she can call you and you guys can meet up? Wonderful. Thanks, Oppi. I owe you one. Yeah. Bye."

She closed her phone. "That was Oppidan, the fairy of metropolises. She's going to help you out, since she lives fairly close. That okay with you?"

"Sounds good!" I said.

She put her hand out and concentrated, and a pencil and paper appeared. She scribbled down a ten digit number and handed it to me. "Call her tomorrow. She'll be glad to hear from you."

"Thanks," I said.

Roxy looked at the clock. "Wow. It's really late. Sorry about this, but some of us have a plane to catch, so we have to be going. We'll see you again though, Star, I know it!"

"Yeah," I said. "I know it too. Safe travels!"

Roxy reached out and hugged me. "Good luck on your own... slightly more metaphorical... path," she whispered.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. I knew I'd need that good luck, my path wouldn't be easy. But I was so much better off than I had been. I had magic. I had a teacher. I even had friends.

What more could a girl need?

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Star is the creation of smiles1998! Hope you enjoyed!<p>

And next we get to go to Greece! Yay! That'll be fun.

Also, question. Has anyone noticed that the titles of the stories are puns of a sense?


	16. Sink or Swim: Naida's Story

**Sink or Swim: Naida's Story**

The day I began to believe in karma was the day we learned my little sister Nerine had become a nymph, a nature spirit.

Most people at my home in Thessaloniki hadn't believed in nymphs, until they were proven to exist about a year ago. There were still many elders who believed in the nereids, beautiful trickster nymphs of the sea, but for the most part, science had taken hold. I mean, it is the big city in modern day Europe, after all. In my opinion, it was a good thing.

Then, of course, it was revealed that there were actually nymphs hidden away in the ancient queendom of Tir Nan Og. And the elders now walked around with a special sort of air, as if they were wordlessly reminding all of us that we were wrong, and they were right. I could get over that. But when Nerine turned out to be an ice nereid herself, that was too much to handle.

I had never been the best elder sister. Of course, it was one flaw to many perfections. I was- I _am- _beautiful, with a tall, slim figure, curly dark hair, and chocolate brown eyes. I was talented in school. Plus, I was athletic, proficient at every water sport that could be dreamed up. Nerine, in comparison, was just the compassionate one. And then she was the one with magical talents.

"Naida, are you hot? I can cool you down," she said as we hopped off the bus and began to walk the rest of the way to the nearest beach. I was planning to meet Hallie, Eileen, and Casta there, but my parents had insisted that I watch over Nerine. Like she couldn't watch over herself, now! With a thought, she could summon water and change it to ice, even in the summer heat.

"I'm fine," I said. "We'll be at the beach soon." _And then you can play with the water and get out of my hair._

I fingered the sheer brown cover-up I was wearing over my brand new monokini. I looked great. As always, I mean... but I knew today I was particularly beautiful, and fully expected my friends to notice.

After a brief walk, I saw Casta and waved. She waved back and called me over. "Naida!"

I looked at Nerine. "Anyone you wanna hang out with?" _So maybe you can get out of my hair?_

"Actually, Damien and I were having this really interesting conversation I want to continue," she said with a blush.

I looked towards my group once again. Sure enough... Damien, Hallie's older brother and the hottest thing to strike Thessaloniki since the smart car, was hanging out on a beach towel and laughing at one of Casta's famous party stories. "I'm sure he's really busy, Nerine," I said.

"Oh! But he told me we would definitely pick up our debate the next time we met."

"Well, you can try," I said, letting a proper amount of doubt creep into my voice. "Just... well, you're still in middle school. Damien and I are in high school- I mean, we don't even _have _to go to school anymore! We're _educated_. You're planning on stopping your education as soon as you hit fifteen!"

"So I can go to the Institute of Magic in America," Nerine said defensively. "Just because I'm not going to high school doesn't mean I'm being stupid."

I shrugged. "Whatever. I'm just saying that Damien is highly intelligent, and your debate attempts with him are futile."

We walked the rest of the way to the group in silence, but as soon as we put down our towels, we were swept into conversation. "Oh my god!" Casta exclaimed. "Naida, your suit! It's extraordinary! Is it... Orchid Label?"

"Paradizia. Beautiful, no?"

"More than. It's so marvelous!"

Hallie scooted over next to me and took a handful of my dark, curly hair to braid. I sighed, content. "What were you all talking about before I arrived?"

"I was telling Damien about that one time at the bouzoukia, with the crazy tourist. Remember that? And how..."

"Save it," Damien interrupted. "I think I have the gist of the story... and anyway, the fair and magical Nerine and I have much to talk about."

I tried not to pout. Nerine didn't say "I told you so," or even shoot me a victorious glance. She was too kind for that. In a way, that made the fact that my crush was choosing to willingly interact with my little sister even worse.

"So," Damien said. "How are your powers developing, my ice nymph?"

"Just fine! I looked into that school in America you told me about. My grandfather and father say that they'll make sure I can attend as soon as I'm finished with my compulsory education here."

"Wonderful! And did that trick with the lemonade work?"

"Oh, did it! Lemonade flavored ice! It's a perfect treat for summer."

"I agree. I love making it, of course, it is not so easy for me without magic powers, little nereid!"

I tried not to throw up a little in my mouth at the blatant flirting. Standing, I announced, "I'm going to go swim a bit. Anyone care to join me?" The entire group shook their heads, and I couldn't stop myself from pouting that time. Some friends they were!

Some of the feeling of betrayal lifted when I got into the water. Swimming, surfing, water-skiing... I always felt more at home in the water, or even at the beach in general. Water sports were how I stayed so beautiful, as they both tanned me and kept me fit. Right now I wasn't in the mood for a vigorous workout though. Flipping onto my back and closing my eyes so they weren't irritated by the bright sun, I began to float lazily, contemplating all the things that had gone wrong in my previously perfect life.

_Is Damien crushing on Nerine? Because she is five years younger than him. And I know she doesn't care, and that he is a good person who would not take advantage of her... but still... And her magic! Why did she end up as Nerine Athena Geragos, an ice nymph, and I am still the human Naida Callidora Geragos? Is this because I already had too much, and God decided to take pity on my sister and grant her powers? Well, God, it doesn't make me any less jealous! All the people who should pay attention to me are now paying attention to her! Even Casta and Eileen and Hallie! They used to worship me! And..._

That thought didn't get to be completed. Something grabbed my leg, and I shook it off, irritated. _Silly boys. Why can't parents control their brats?_

Then, when it grabbed again and began to pull me under, I screamed.

My mouth, having opened too late, was flooded with sea water. I began to kick, punch, do anything I could to get out of the grip of what had grabbed me. Though I knew it would burn, I opened my eyes to see a man with long, platinum blonde hair and a terrible look of anger. I did the only thing I could do, and swam away from him as fast as I could. I was halfway to shore before I popped up for air.

As I did, I noticed that the previously cloudless, sunny day had turned dark and stormy. I looked at my _parea_, only to see Casta, Eileen, and Hallie huddling behind Nerine and Damien, who looked scared, but ready to face the storm. Which was crazy. Face a storm, as if it could be defeated? Everyone sane was running towards cars, and scooters, and the bus stop. Or, even better, the nearby buildings!

Then, I saw another group of people who were not running. Instead, they were helping people towards buildings, shouting words of encouragement- two of them in Greek, one in English, and one, motioning frantically with her hands... sign language?

I hadn't realized I had stopped swimming until the creepy man grabbed at my leg again. Luckily, I kicked him off easily, and managed to swim the rest of the way to shore, thankful that I had kept in good enough shape to be able to swim as fast as I could. As I exited the water, I felt the sting of cold wind all over my body. I began to run up to my friends. "What is going on?" I screamed.

"I don't know!" Damien said. "A freak storm, it seems... but I think there's more to it than that."

"Definitely," Nerine said. "I feel it. This storm is magical!"

"Oh, worried about our little storm, are you?" Someone behind me said... in English. That hadn't been the end of their sentence... there was another word that I wasn't quite sure how to translate. Damien was looking as confused as I felt- well, we were about the same level of English. Nerine, who only spoke Greek, looked confused.

I turned. Standing there, soaking wet, was the man who had grabbed me, plus three others. "Run!" I told Nerine. "These guys are bad news. You have to get out of here!"

Damien seemed to assume that my advice was only intended for my sister. Lightly pushing me out of the way, he charged the men with our beach cooler, ready to knock their heads in. He was only an inch away when one of them, with a purple mohawk and an eyebrow piercing, raised a hand and lazily thrust it to our left- and Damien flew that way, his head hitting a beach umbrella about ten yards away. His body slumped limply in the sand. "Damien!" Nerine and I yelled in unison.

My little sister was raging. She had always been the kind one- I had never seen her so angry. With a wordless scream, I saw her suddenly disappear into a flash of light. One of the strange men charged at it, but the light knocked him flat on his butt, as if it were a shield. I smiled. "Go, Nerine!" I yelled.

"Oh, such love for her sister," said the one with blue hair.

The redhead grinned. "I bet the love is returned." And with another word that I didn't understand, I felt myself flying towards these men... sorcerers, it seemed. Evil sorcerers. Two of them, the blue-haired one and the creepy blonde, restrained me, holding me so tightly that I could barely breathe, let alone move. I could still watch the light that Nerine had created fade... I could still watch my friends (well, the conscious ones, anyway) run for cover.

Nerine burst from the light. "I am Nerine Geragos, and I am a nereid," she said. "I have magical powers. So you should run and never come back to Thessaloniki!"

I looked at her. She was brave, standing up to four men twice her size, and probably twice her age. Her face showed her courageous expression, and her swimsuit had faded and turned into a floaty light-blue top and skirt set that reminded me of the clothes an ancient nereid may have worn. Her feet were bare, and lavender ribbons were woven into her thick, dark hair. But the thing that I noticed the most were the soft, silken wings that looked like aqua-colored fins. My baby sister... she was majestic. Not more than me, though.

Well, okay, if I'm being honest, yes. She was more beautiful than I.

Like a dancer, she gracefully moved her hands, summoning water from the sea and turning the water she drew from its source into ice, which she then hurled at the men. One of them, the redhead, waved the ice off, sending the shards flying every which way. But the other man was hit, and the ice stuck into him... in a manner that looked very painful. He yelped as he noticed blood around the wound.

The redhead hurled what seemed to be a ball of pure energy at Nerine, but again she called the water from the ocean, and froze it, this time making a shield in front of her. The energy bounced off, and hit the guy who had been hit by the ice the first time. "Oh, come on!" he yelled.

"Shush, Gunner!" said the redhead, and this time he picked up an abandoned chocolate wrapper and ignited it with magic. Then, he hurled it towards Nerine's shield. It melted quicker than I would have expected, and before she could react, she was hit by an energy ball. She crumpled.

The redhead smirked. "She put up quite a fight for someone so untrained. Black Circle! Let us form!"

The two men holding me released me and walked over to the man who must have been their leader. Even the injured Gunner joined in. They touched their fingertips together and began chanting in a low voice, I couldn't hear. Purple energy whipped around them, growing into a strange tornado that picked up my little sister and began to pull her in.

_Oh, no you don't!_

The beach was suddenly bright, covered in a pale green light... that was coming from me! My monokini turned into a flowy minidress that was seafoam green. My feet, like my sister's, were bare... and a crown of white pearls decorated my mane of dark curly hair (the braid that Hallie had woven had come loose). A pain, both sharp and wonderful, came from my back, and I knew that my wings matched those of my sister, but in a deep green, like seaweed.

When the light faded, I saw five people staring at me. The four sorcerers, in awe and anger. My sister, looking proud.

I glared at the sorcerers. "You want to pull something into your evil circle? How about this?" And, summoning the sea, I bombarded them with gusts of salty water that poured onto them, stinging their eyes. "Water, wash them away!" I said, and the sea even obeyed that, using its power to thrust them into the deep ocean. My sister, who had created a bubble of ice around herself, was thankfully untouched.

With the sorcerers gone, the sky lightened. I raced over to Damien, who was still limp. "Call someone!" I yelled to Nerine.

"He'll be fine," said another new voice, and I automatically raised some of the ocean. "Whoa, wait!" she said. Yes, this time, it was a she... I turned to see a dark skinned girl speaking perfect Greek. "I'm a nymph, just like you. Actually, we call them _fairies_. But that is where I am from... you call them whatever you want. I'm sorry we couldn't help, but the smaller fairy looked like she was handling it, and we had to get everyone off the beach. We've never dealt with a public attack before."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Safeyah Hafeij. I'm from the Institute of Magic in the United States. And... well, we came to protect your sister. But it looks like you two have it covered. You're lucky to have each other."

I thought for a moment. "Yeah," I said with a grin. "We really are."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Well, there's the first chapter with the two new teams! How'd you like? Character credit goes to Akela Victoire.<p>

Next up is Alexa, Authoress-in-training's character!


	17. Wind Beneath My Wings: Alexa's Story

**Wind Beneath My Wings: Alexa's Story**

"Heart Holders, convergence! Fire Storm!"

I pressed my hand into Ildri's and together we raised it up, channeling our power towards Gunner, who blew backwards, overwhelmed by the combination of fire and wind. Behind him, Evanne opened a void portal, which he flew into. She sealed it behind him. "Woo-hoo!" Adaline called. "We did it!"

"Or did you?"

Turning, we saw Gunner smiling in a creepy and evil way that almost made me shiver. Behind him were Trudric and Nyklus. "What the hell?" Ildri exclaimed. "Didn't Evanne just send you to Never-Neverland?"

"Merely an image of him."

Again, we turned, just in time to see Killian's smirk. Beside him was Rider. We were surrounded.

"Gather up, everyone!" Adaline said. "Let's rock these creeps!"

"We've been trying to do that very thing for an hour," Evanne said. "It's bordering on hopeless and illogical."

I sighed. "We can't give up, Evanne. Everyone, focus your powers!"

The Heart Holders touched their fingers together, gathering strength. However, we weren't the only ones doing it. The Black Circle Apprentices also formed their own circle, with power that took the place of the air around us. It was impossible to breathe in anything but magic with the two circles, but luckily we could survive without breathing. It was one of the benefits that came with being a magical girl.

Suddenly, I felt myself being ripped from our circle, drawn to the other. The wind, my own power, started to betray me, carrying me into the circle. "Alexa!" I heard Adaline cry as I was thrown into the Black Circle. I beat my wings, attempting with all my strength to get out, but it was like running into the ceiling of a dome. I let my human senses relax and make way for my magical senses, and suddenly I could see a dark purple barrier that rippled and waved. It should have been weak, but when I blasted it, the barrier did not falter. My air beam shot back at me, and I crumpled to the bottom of the dome. With great effort, I stood up, seeing the Black Circle Apprentices outside the barrier, forming a circle around me. Farther away, I saw the Heart Holders racing towards me, but they got smaller and smaller, as if they were moving away.

"No!" I whispered. "This totally, completely cannot be happening to me!"

That was the last thing I said before the blue sky around me vanished, and I found myself in a dark room, still surrounded by a purple force-field, though without anyone else in site- not even the fairy traitor Rider.

Alone in the dark, I began trying to make my way out. I punched the barrier, but it felt like punching a brick wall. My knuckles began to bleed, and my fingers hurt like crazy, though I didn't think anything was broken. With my other hand, I tried to blast the force field with a magic beam again, but as it did last time, it only reflected back onto me, hitting me in the side of the head and knocking me unconscious.

When I woke up, Rider was there, smiling warmly. The expression looked out of place in the purple prison bubble I was trapped inside. As she was outside, her dark brown hair was tinted purple, and her normally lightly tanned skin currently looked like the hide of Barney the Dinosaur. "Feeling any better?" she asked.

I narrowed my eyebrows and glared at her. "Why do you care?"

"Because you're a guest here at the Black Circle Health Clinic," she said, motioning around.

For the first time, I noticed that the room was a little lighter. Sterile white beds were on one side of the room, and next to me was another force field prison with another girl inside, sleeping or unconscious. "Looks like a mad science lab to me. Or like The School in the Maximum Ride books."

"You have those in Australia?"

"We're far from third world, Rider."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I don't really know much about the land down under. Anyway, we're not here to make you uncomfortable. We're just going to pull your wings off. Oh, and of course, you'll have to stay here until your friends come to rescue you. We can't let you be the only lucky healthy one, right?"

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" I said. "You're going to kill my magical form, then use me as bait so you can do it to my friends, and while you're doing it you're going to play the part of the compassionate nurse?"

"I am the compassionate nurse, as best as I can be. Killian's already made me promise not to feed you. Do you want him to make me promise that I won't even be nice to you? Or that I'll hurt you? Alexa, I want to save you, really. But we've already talked about how you're just as much use to us beat up, bruised, and broken as you are whole and healthy- maybe more. If you were hurt, your friends might be motivated to come quicker. I'm trying to be nice. We aren't the bad guys, after all."

"You launched an attack in Thessaloniki, Greece that almost killed a man. The only thing that stopped a whole lot of death was the emergence of two magical girls."

"I told them that Thessaloniki was stupid. It made them look much more aggressive than they are. I refused to even participate."

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"Because Killian might love me, but he has to put his beliefs first." She said it in the voice of someone repeating a fact that they hated, but knew was the unavoidable truth. "He told me that he has to be the one to save this world. He's going to revolutionize it. Someday, we'll be remembered through history together, but for now I have to step back and let him work."

Okay, so it was really stupid. Rider was my major enemy. I mean, the Heart Holders came to the United States specifically to stop her and the Apprentices. But her voice was so sad, and it seemed like she was having some major guy issues. "Are you guys…"

"We're dating, if you can call it that. It isn't exactly romantic, saving the world." She let out a short laugh. "Sometimes, I'm not even sure what I'm doing. But I know we can work anything out. That's what love is… right?"

I shrugged. I had no clue what to say. I could either break Rider's heart by telling her the truth, or I could let her go on believing in her evil mastermind boyfriend. Both seemed really, really cruel. I almost could feel my own heart breaking. Rider seemed nice, and that was confusing. Weren't nice and good the same things? I felt instinctively that if we had been on the same side, she would have been my friend, probably would have been one of the Heart Holders. With a reluctant smile, I changed the topic. "So, when you aren't hanging out with Killian or ripping the wings off of fairies, what do you like to do?"

We must have talked for an hour, maybe two, when the alarm started ringing. Rider jumped up. "Stay there," she said, as if I could go anywhere else. "That's a security breach. Someone's inside."

She ran out of the lab-like room, and I listened. Within minutes, I heard the fluttering of wings- many wings- and, in the opposite direction, shouting. I was almost prepared when the door to the lab was kicked in, although I still felt my heart speed up. "We're here to rescue you!" shouted a loud voice with an American accent. It belonged to a girl with blonde hair (tinted purple by the prison field) in the same style as Ildri's was, although this girl's hair was lighter. She stormed into the room, and I could see a petite brunette who looked about twelve behind her.

The blonde came up to my bubble. "You're Karina Dupree?" she asked. "Your description is wrong. It said you'd have green eyes, not violet."

"They're blue, they just look purple due to the magic field. And my name isn't Karina. I'm Alexa Verlac."

"Well, then where's Karina? We were sent here specifically to rescue her, and the rest of my friends can't hold off the Wizards much longer, even if there's only three of them and three of us."

I pointed to the bubble next to me, and the blonde girl smiled. "Thanks. In return for your help, I'll rescue you too."

"You'd do that anyway, Avalon," the brunette said. She then smiled at me. "This is Avalon, and I'm Mia. We're fairies."

"I'm Alexa. I'm a fairy too, though I prefer to be known as a magical girl."

Mia's eyes lit up. "I love you! Oh my goodness, that is awesome! Do you have, like a magical girl team?"

"Yeah, I'm part of the Heart Holders. There's four of us."

"And you have catch phrases and everything?"

I struck a pose as best I could inside the cramped purple bubble. "Mine is the heart that blows away sorrow! Heart Holder of air, my name is Alexa!"

I thought Mia looked about to faint from excitement. "This is so awesome," she said.

"Whatever, it's all a bunch of stupid show. It didn't keep this Alexa girl from getting captured." I looked at Avalon, who was holding what seemed to be a giant white hula hoop. She passed it over the purple bubble surrounding the other girl, and the prison disintegrated before everyone's eyes. "Mia, magical girls aren't real, besides us of course. They're just fairy tales."

"That doesn't even make sense. You just said that besides fairies, there are no magical girls. Alexa is a fairy; therefore, she can be a magical girl."

"I said besides us," Avalon said as she started using the white hula hoop on my bubble. "Us fairy finders have experience in fighting baddies with magic. This girl is just playing at it."

"What did you say?"

I didn't even have to look for the source of this voice. "Ildri!" I exclaimed. "You came!"

"Yeah, we all did, but I left Evanne and Adaline fighting Rider and Killian, so we have to hurry. Who're these people, by the way? More baddies?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Avalon cut in. "We're the real heroes around here, actually. I'm Avalon MacAdams, and this is Mia Brice. We're from the Institute of Magic in Gardenia, California. You know… the big leagues. So why don't you take your friends and run and let us do the ass-kicking?"

"Avalon, you're being mean," Mia said.

"Mia, you're being stupid."

I looked at Ildri, whose face was turning as red as her transformation outfit. "Flame Lick!" she cried, shooting a blast of fire straight at Avalon.

It hit Avalon in the back, knocking her forward just as the prison disintegrated. She landed right on top of me. "Oh, it is on," she hissed, and wordlessly fired a beam of strange energy at Ildri, who dodged it flawlessly and threw a couple fireballs of her own. Avalon was already prepared, having created a shield that looked like a giant gear.

Ildri didn't give Avalon a chance to put down the shield and attack before she flew at Avalon, aiming punches and kicks that were made much more powerful by the fact that she had set her own hands on fire. Avalon dodged and deflected, but finally gave up with defense and summoned a magical wire that entangled my best friend and tied her up.

I watched Ildri clench her fists. "Oh dear," I murmured.

Mia looked at me, confused. "What?"

My power started draining, and I only tried halfheartedly to resist. "All the Heart Holders have a charm on them. We can all draw power from each other while we possess this charm, like convergence, but only one person has to cast the spell. I'm Ildri's favorite to draw from, since air feeds fire."

With a cry and a big explosion, Ildri broke free from Avalon's wire bindings. The explosion knocked all the rest of us down. "How's that for amateur?" Ildri cried.

Avalon stood up, energy seeping from her fingers. "You little…"

"Stop!"

I suppose by this point, I should have been used to people appearing at the door dramatically. I looked up and saw a woman, older than me, glaring at Avalon. "What are you doing? Why are you fighting? We all have to get out now… we're going to end up being overwhelmed. Where's Karina?"

Avalon pointed to the unconscious girl on the floor. "Then who are the other two?" the woman asked.

"I'm Alexa," I said. "And the violent one is Ildri. We're two of the Heart Holders, a magical girl team."

"There are other teams. That makes sense," said the woman. "My name is Lysis. I'm the leader of the domestic team from the Institute of Magic."

"You're a team that cooks?" Ildri asked, refraining from shooting the fireball in her hand.

"Domestic as in not international, actually."

"Borrrr-ing," Ildri whispered.

"I agree," Mia said from next to her.

Lysis turned to Avalon. "We all need to get going. Why would you fight another fairy? We need all the help we can get."

"She started it!"

"I know you, Avalon… did she really?"

"I really did," Ildri admitted. "Sorry, only not really. She's a jerk."

"Yes, I know. Come on, Avalon, Mia. Let's get Roxy and Kaylee and go." With a snap of Lysis's fingers, Karina began to levitate and follow Lysis.

Avalon began to follow Lysis, but Mia didn't. "Are you coming?" Avalon asked.

"I… if it's okay with them, I want to join the Heart Holders," Mia said.

Lysis frowned, but Avalon was the one who really flipped out. "You can't do that! We need you! You're the only one who speaks Mandarin!"

"Nobody actually needs to! When have we run into a Chinese fairy?"

"Evanne's family is Chinese," Ildri noted. "But she's one of us."

"Well… well… you need us, though! You can't even transform! You can't even protect yourself! You can't even change your hair color!"

"Did you guys try to teach her?" I asked.

Lysis shook her head. "We believe in letting girls come into it when they're ready. Not forcing it."

"But she's exhibited magic. There's a difference between forcing it and unlocking it. I couldn't transform at first, either. I still have trouble. Maybe we can help her with that."

Lysis considered for a second, and then nodded. "We'll have to keep in contact. Mia is our responsibility, but if you're willing to help with that, you can."

"I can't believe you're letting them do this!" Avalon said.

"If Mia wants to, we can't hold her back. Besides, Kristina's wanted to travel a little bit more. This way, we have a space in the car for her."

Avalon grumbled a little, then sighed and hugged Mia. "Don't be stupid," she said, then left with Lysis.

We left the room too, all three of us, Mia and I running down the hall, Ildri flying. Soon enough, we ran into Evanne and Adaline. They were standing around Rider, throwing energy at the shield she had up. It was ruthless and unfair- Killian was lying on the ground, knocked out. "Guys, let's go," I said sharply. "I'm here. We can leave."

"Why don't we just finish what we came to America for?" Evanne said.

"I can't right now. Come on guys, let's go."

Evanne and Adaline reluctantly stopped, and we headed outside.

I only glanced back once. Rider was crying.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was so long coming! I wrote it like three times, three different ways. But this is the final, and whew, it was intense. Two fight scenes, a character leaving the FoF team (for now, if not forever), and some major character and a little bit of plot development. Next chapter is lighter- it goes along with Akela Victoire's Nerine.<p>

Also, submissions are officially CLOSED. Thanks for all the characters!

Akela Victoire has suggested that all authors write a quick backstory about their character before they found out they were a fairy. Is their interest in a compilation of that?


	18. Breaking the Ice: Nerine's Story

**Breaking the Ice: Nerine's Story  
><strong>_Part One of Two_

America was not Greece. The Institute of Magic was not my school. And perhaps most unsettling, the women and few men who moved within it were not my friends and family.

"You wanted this," I reminded myself, quietly and muttering. "You decided to ditch high school to go to America and learn magic from people who don't speak the same language as you, or eat the same food as you, or exist in the same way you do."

Taria looked at me. "You say something, Nerine?"

I shook my head, and she returned to the intimidatingly long novel she was reading (in English).

I glanced around the long hall. We were sitting off to the side, on a bench, waiting for a guide to come and show me to the actual school area. The Institute was not just a college, after all- it was Earth's major magical gateway, connecting Earth, the locked realm of Tir Nan Og, and I think they had recently added an express portal to the realm of Magix. Business was conducted in the Institute, scientists came and went... the actual school was only a small part, housing sixteen other nymphs besides myself. Taria had given me a cheat sheet of them, but had forgotten to put it into Greek. I sighed as I thought of it. I knew I should have taken that English class last year...

The crowd of nymphs and scientists parted as a beautiful woman walked through. She had messy black hair that fell to her earlobes. Her skin was pale, not just compared to my Mediterranean tones, but just generally super pale. It was a feature highlighted by dark colored clothes, all reds and purples and blacks. Upon her brow was a blue and green tiara that glowed slightly, and her face was set in a determined look- between that and her ageless features, she looked like she could be either your teenage best friend or your ancient worst enemy. As she approached us, Taria and I stood hastily. You didn't sit for the queen of all Earth nymphs.

As she saw us, her hard face softened. She definitely looked younger when she smiled, maybe around my sister Naida's age, seventeen. As she walked up to us, she waved her hand, and pink sparks transformed her from an elegant magical queen into a particularly pretty human- her hair lost a little curl, becoming a straightened black bob, and her clothes melted into a pair of dark wash jeans, furry boots, and a long sleeved red tee shirt. She smiled at my expression, probably one of wonder- I had done some magic myself, with effort... I had watched my sister do some. But neither of us did it like that, all casual and effortless. That was why I left Greece. That was why I left my family, my homeland, my new boyfriend Damien... I left to learn to be effortless.

"Hello, Nerine," she said, and I was surprised that I understood her. "My name is Nebula de Pont. I am the queen of both Tir Nan Og and Earth's nymphs, as well as headmistress and CEO of the Institute of Magic. It's good to meet you."

"Same here," I said, then immediately worried that it wasn't the right thing to say to a queen. Even if the queen looked like one of my classmates.

"I'm going to show you to the schooling area of IoM now," she said. "Of course, classes are over today and so you'll begin tomorrow, but you can still see the classrooms, the commons, and the dormitory. Taria told you who your roommate was, right?"

I held up my cheat sheet. "It's in English," I said. "I can't read it."

Taria blushed. "Whoops. Sorry. I forgot to translate."

"You can't read English?"

I shook my head. "Didn't you know, um... your highness? I mean, you're speaking Greek."

"Translation spell," the queen said. "I thought it would be more comfortable for you to speak in your native language."

Taria thought. "So, we just put a translation spell on Nerine, right? And then she speaks and understands English, no problem!"

"Nymphs come here to learn," Nebula chided. "That includes academic subjects. If we start casting spells of knowledge, why teach at all? And before you say something like, 'well she can't learn if she can't understand,' I have decided to let you translate for her and teach her English in her spare time."

Taria's mouth dropped. She seemed like she wanted to complain, but at the last minute, thought better of it.

Nebula smiled again- this time it had a hint of danger thrown in. "Follow me," she said, and we did, silently and without any thought of dissent.

The Institute was huge. Even just riding the elevator up to the school, which took up the top three floors of the fifteen-story building, I could tell. One side was glass, and I watched each floor pass. Most things looked normal, but there was one stop we passed that immediately opened into a giant purple portal; another seemed to lead outdoors, despite being about a hundred feet above ground. We got off on the fourteenth story, where the classrooms were. Only a few were open and used, as the school was still incredibly small, but Nebula told me that she hoped they would all be used before I graduated.

We walked up the steps to the dormitory and commons area. As soon as the elevator stopped, I was in awe. It was like a teen paradise. The elevator opened into a small lobby area with a check-in sheet and a large TV and stereo. Five girls were sitting on fluffy purple cushions on the floor. Two were playing some kind of video game, one flipped through an American fashion magazine, and the last couple seemed to be comparing homework, first looking at a worksheet and then shooting beams of rainbow light across the room. I gasped in awe. Everything was incredible.

As the elevator doors opened, Nebula muttered something under her breath, and I felt a wave of magic that I had not even been aware of disintegrating. We walked into the lobby, and Nebula said something- I couldn't understand her, so she must have gotten rid of the translation spell. I looked to Taria for help. "Queen Nebula is just introducing you to the others."

"Oh. Who are these?"

"See the willowy blonde model-type playing Halo? That's Verity, nymph of time, from Wales. The girl going against her is Annie Brechkovsky- originally from Britain, but she lived most of her life in Moscow. She's the nymph of dance- don't ever think you can turn on the music here and have a nice quiet listen, cause she'll be doing some arabesque or pas de chat or whatever before you can say 'I wanted to relax.' Actually she hates ballet... but I don't know hip-hop terms." Taria shrugged. "Karina's the one reading Seventeen. She's sulking 'cause she's grounded. She went to L.A. to visit her family and got kidnapped, so until she passes the defensive magic class, she isn't allowed to leave Gardenia. Then there's Kristina. Don't confuse the Kays, they hate that, even though they're best friends. Kristina flunked her Illusions test, so Mihika's tutoring her. In return, Kristina teaches Mika, as we call her, all the English slang. Mika's also just learning English... maybe you two can help each other."

The girls must have known they were being talked about, because they waved in turn, even the sulky Karina. They all seemed kind of intimidating... all five seemed confident and cool, even Mika, though she didn't speak English fluently. I felt kind of out of place, and just smiled shyly and waved back a little.

Nebula waved me on down a large corridor, and I followed. I could feel the five girls gazing after me curiously and it made me nervous, but we soon turned a corner and I couldn't feel them anymore.

Here were the dorms. The doors were color coded, which was good because while I could remember colors, I doubted I could remember names or numbers in my state. We walked all the way down to the purple door, and Nebula knocked on it. The door opened after a second, revealing a slightly chubby and short, but pretty, girl who seemed to be about three years older than me. She had light brown hair put into braids that had no hairbands, and had come partly unbraided, and her cool grey eyes stared inquisitively at me. I took another glance at Taria, who immediately gave me the scoop. "Amanda. Eighteen years old, Canadian. Has a large, fuzzy, grumpy and old cat named Mr. Bajamas who she insisted would die if he couldn't live with her, so I hope you aren't allergic to fur. They're your new roommates. Don't worry, if they get annoying, you can always make a joke about how she's not dead."

"That's not really funny," I said.

Taria laughed darkly. "Actually, it is. Trust me for now... I'm sure someone will tell you the story later."

My eyes narrowed, a bit annoyed. I hated when people hinted at a good joke and refused to tell me the punchline- or, as seemed the case here, told me the punchline but not the joke.

Amanda motioned us in, and I saw that one side of the room was completely covered in posters and pictures. The bed had grey sheets and a blue and pink quilted comforter, and about ten pillows were piled onto it, some shaped like normal, others looking like hearts and flowers and Hello Kitty. On the foot of the bed, a big orange tabby-like thing batted a neon green mouse. A desk had a sleek silver laptop and a huge pile of papers and books. It looked comfy... homey.

What I assumed was my side, by comparison, was drab and lifeless. I sighed. My room at home had been vibrant... it would take a while to get that effect here. Still, I smiled as I saw that my suitcases were already piled next to my bed. I opened a medium-sized one that I knew housed my sheets, e-reader, and other personal items and began to unpack. Nebula nodded at me, then left, and Taria stood next to my bed. "Can we help?" she asked, referring to herself and Amanda, I suppose.

"I think I've got it," I said.

"Great. Hey, I'll be in the lobby. You unpack, and then come out there and I'll introduce you to the other ten, okay?"

I shrugged, and Taria and Amanda headed into the lobby commons. I started to unpack, really, I did... but almost as soon as my flowery sheets and warm pink blankets were piled onto my new bed, I fell asleep. Even nymphs get jet lag.

Sleep was turbulent. I had odd dream after odd dream, and really I shouldn't have gotten much rest. But when I woke up, feeling completely refreshed, it was seven in the morning. "Oh god, Taria is going to kill me," I murmured softly- it had been eight at night when I arrived, likely around nine when I dropped off. Not bothering to change clothes, I ran out into the lobby. As I ran, I felt the distinct shiver of powerful magic around me, but I pushed through it.

The commons was empty. Kristina's (or was it Karina's? Darn, they were going to hate me) fashion magazine lay open on the floor, and homework was scattered around. There was a big gaping hole in one of the satiny purple cushions I had admired, and something smelled of smoke. A chair was crumpled and broken in a corner.

Panicked, I glanced around, hoping someone would come out, yelling "surprise! In America, we wreck stuff to show our appreciation of new friends!" But no one did. In fact the only thing that caught my eye now that I was looking closer was a note with my name on it. I picked it up and opened it.

Of course, it was in English.

I dug my hands into the pocket of my skirt and took out my cell. I was suddenly thankful I had international calling. Quickly moving my thumbs across the numbers, I dialed my boyfriend.

He picked up quickly. "Nerine!" Damien exclaimed. "You were supposed to call me when you got in!"

"It was three AM, Damien," I said. "You needed sleep."

"Yes, you said that, my ice nymph, but..."

"Damien, everyone's GONE."

He paused. "What?" he asked.

"Everyone is gone. It looks like there was a fight. There's a note with my name on it, N-e-r-i-n-e, but it's English; I can't read it. I don't know what to do."

"Do you think you can retype it in a text?"

"I don't know. I don't think so."

He took a deep breath. "Take a picture of it and send it to me. It's going to be okay, little nereid. I promise."

I quickly used my camera phone to snap a shot and text it to him. He looked over it for about five minutes before he had it. "It's not the best translation," he said, apologizing, "the English isn't textbook, and I'm still learning anyway."

"Just give me what you can," I asked.

"It is addressed to you- Nerine, ice nymph. It says, 'I don't think you read, but I think you do. I am sorry. There was no options. I can't save something something something, so I will save you instead.' Here's a whole sentence I can't translate," he said apologetically. "Something about a circle."

That sparked something in my brain. And I didn't like it.

"Who were those guys at the beach?" I asked.

There was a brief pause. "They call them the Dark Students."

"What's the English translation?" I had a hunch here.

There was a sound of swishing and flicks as he typed something into his phone. "Ah. The Black Circle Apprentices, roughly. It matches part of that one sentence."

"So, the gist is this- someone couldn't save the others, but they could save me, likely from a Dark Students attack. She doesn't think I'll read this, or maybe that I can read this? Which is right. Anything else?"

Damien muttered "yes," then elaborated in a clearer voice. "SOS. They need help. And it's signed- does the name Mika ring a bell?"

"She's one of the other girls here. I didn't really get a chance to meet her, but she seemed nice. All of them did. I bet that when the Dark guys came, she was trying to save them. And I was asleep, and I'm new, so they didn't think about me." I blinked. It was so crazy. How had my first day gone so wrong? "Damn it! I'm an awful nymph! I am stupid and cowardly and I couldn't save anyone! I can't even save myself; my sister had to do that, and now she's far away, and you're so far away Damien... I want to come home!"

"I want you home, too." His low voice seemed lonely and mournful.

"But I can't come home! I have to stay! I'm sorry. I have to not be so cowardly." My voice broke. "I have to save myself and everyone else, or I'll hate myself."

"I know," he told me. I could hear a slight, sad smile in his voice. "You and Naida say you're not anything alike- Naida is confident and bossy and smart and pretty, and you are sweet and kind and innocent and lovely. But you two sisters share the same determination, the same power. It is what will rescue your friends, if you let it carry you through this."

Part of me wanted to ask if he ever liked Naida better- just to be reassured that she was his best friend, but I was his girlfriend- but now wasn't the time. He was right.

"I've gotta go now. You're right," I admitted.

Damien laughed. "I am right. Just promise me, nereid, not to do anything stupid. Get some of the older ones to help you, don't just rush off."

"Got it. Love you," I said, then hung up. I shoved my phone back into my pocket, then transformed with a thought. Ice crystals swirled around me, some turning into barrettes to pin my hair back, others becoming more snow-like and settling down as glitter on my floaty two piece Charmix outfit. Lavender ribbons weaved through my loose and curly dark hair (now twice as long as normal), and fell onto the large, translucent blue fins that served as my wings. I took a breath as the light disintegrated. "Damien's right," I told myself again. "I am Nerine, nereid of ice- and I may not be so brave, but I am determined, and I will not let some awful monsters kill my happiness!"

With a couple beats of my wings, I lifted myself from the ground and flew down the flights of stairs- the elevator was on the first floor, and I knew every second I waited would be a second that I would convince myself to turn back, or that the Dark ones would spend harming the others. I had grabbed the note left by Mika when I transformed, and I planned to show it to Nebula, Taria... some adult I knew. Not like there were many.

As I swooped overhead, people yelled at me. I got the distinct impression that flying indoors was a no-no; but this was an finally I hit the first floor, I took to the ground, running towards the throne room that had been the first thing pointed out to me. I hesitated- I knew bad things happened to those who burst into the throne rooms of royalty, but this was important. So I opened the door, yelling the only English I knew (not counting "Where is the ladies' room?")- "FIRE!"

Nebula and about twenty others I didn't know stared at me, then Nebula muttered something, and began talking rapidly. "Where? In the school? Is it magical?"

"No, no, no fire. That was the only English emergency word I knew. I... everyone is gone! It looked like there was a fight. And... here." I handed her Mika's note.

Her eyes scanned the page, then something flashed in them- something glowing and raging and dangerous. Something that made me know that she was a thousand times scarier than the Dark Students. "Do you know what this says, Nerine?" she asked, and her tone was razor-sharp.

"I... I think she tried to save everyone, but couldn't. Does it say I didn't help? Oh, I'm sorry! I really am! I didn't know!"

"No, that isn't it at all," Nebula said. "It says that Mihika was a spy for the Apprentices. Or, well, she was. She helped them kidnap the students without knowledge of the adults. However, from the note, it was reluctant. Maybe she thought they would betray her. In any sense, she betrayed them- she didn't tell them about you, the new student. She saved you. And maybe by doing that, she saved everyone."

"But... they're gone!" I said, angrily. "And the Dark Students nearly killed my boyfriend, nearly mauled me! She didn't save everyone, she only made me madder!"

The queen of nymphs shook her head. "Nerine, how brave are you?"

"I'm not brave," I said. "But... I'm determined to help."

"Good, because we need you. The girl who escaped the Apprentices twice... Nerine, you are going to be the perfect bait."

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><p>Author's Note: This chapter brought to you by an update pact with Akela (author of the fabu story Gems of Arcelia, a Season 4 AU to Fly or Fall's Season 5 AU), an on-sale jar of Nutella, and the coldest Diet Coke I ever drank. Special thanks to my younger brother, who had minor surgery today that was cancelled last minute, so I got to take a day off and just focus on my writing. And instead of sitting for hours in a hospital now, I get to do it next Wednesday.<p>

Anyways, this is a two parter with another character that has already been introduced, but will this two parter continue next chapter? Or in like ten chapters? Is this subplot popular enough to merit attention? And why is Mihika a traitor? Stay tuned to Fly or Fall's sporadic updates to find out!

Now I am going to eat more Nutella bye.


	19. Please see the new Fly or Fall

_**Story Reset.**_

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><p>AN: For a better written (and currently updating!) version of this story, please check out my profile. Thank you.<p> 


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